Team Toph
by Xorncon - Number 0
Summary: In a world that has been ravaged by war for a hundred years, two runaways meet by a chance encounter, and get swept up in current global conflicts. Together, they form a rag-tag group of unlikely allies and misfits to try to save the world. AU
1. A Rocky Start

A small caravan of colonists, whose homes had been taken by the War, moved through a small wasteland. They had no military escort, no warriors, not even one Earthbender from their King to defend them. It was just, "we're taking your homes to fight the Fire Nation, get your stuff and get out."

In one storage wagon, carrying hay for the animals dragging the people and their belongings rested a young, pale, black haired woman. With her hands resting behind her head, eyes closed and legs resting on a crate in front of her, the young woman yawned loudly before waking up. The bumps in the road and soft chattering of people outside was more than enough to tell her that they still hadn't gotten to another settlement. She sighed, blowing the tips of her bangs up a bit.

"Time for me get off this joyride." The young woman opened her eyes, which were a faded jade green. The blind girl pressed her hand on the bottom of the wagon's cabin and slowly navigated herself towards the exit. Once she found it she jumped out of the wagon, planting her bare feet on the ground. The young woman stretched her arms high above her head, and balled up her toes against the dirt trail. "Ah, much better."

"Hey you!"

"Oh crap…" A man riding an Ostrich Horse approached the now nervous young woman.

"Where'd you come from?"

"Oh, I'm sorry sir. I didn't steal anything, promise. It's just…my home was destroyed by the Fire Nation and…well I've been wandering around ever since then." The man leaned forward, noticing the young woman's eyes.

"My goodness…you can't even see can you?" The young woman shook her head, moving her nonfunctional eyes to the ground in shame. "You can ride with us until we get to the next town. What's your name?"

"I'm Toph, and thank you for letting me ride along with you."

"It's no problem." The man jumped down from his Ostrich Horse, holding onto the reigns before he took the young girl's hand. Toph scowled a bit in annoyance. She always hated when people took her hand to help her without even asking.

"So…where are you guys headed," Toph asked curiously.

"The Earth Kingdom Capital, Ba Sing Se." Toph's hand immediately shot back, with the girl herself taking several steps back. The man turned around in bewilderment, looking at the blind girl in confusion. "What's wrong?"

"I can't go to Ba Sing Se, sorry, thanks for the offer though!" Toph turned around and started running away from the man and the caravan.

"Wait you—she's a draft dodger!"

'_SHIT,'_ Toph mentally screamed to herself. She felt the heavy, approaching footsteps of more Ostrich Horses coming her way. "Stupid bounty, stupid, stupid, STUPID!" Toph suddenly came grinding to a halt, feeling even heavier footsteps coming up ahead of her. "Oh you're joking…" The pursuing colonists stopped in their tracks and turned around, screaming at the others to run.

"It's the Rough Rhinos!"

Toph sighed to herself and took a quick stance, one arm extended down while the other was bent up.

The Rough Rhinos continued forward, moving right past Toph. The blind girl stood firm for a moment until the dust around her settled. Toph let out a huge sigh of relief. Thankfully they were only interested in the supplies that those people had.

"Sorry everyone," Toph said as she started to walk away casually, "Survival and all that." After a few steps, Toph stopped in her tracks. She focused on the vibrations her feet were picking up, her eyes narrowing in skepticism. "It couldn't be…"

Columns of earth shot up, causing the Komodo Rhinos to break formation. One boy with black hair pulled back into a ponytail jumped forward, tackling one of the Rough Rhinos off of their mount and punching him in the face. The archer of the group fired an arrow in the young man's direction as he shot forward.

Toph continued to feel the noticeable vibrations in the ground, a look of confusion on her face. "An Earthbender out here? What're the odds?" Toph tilted her head to the side, taking herself into consideration, and then shrugged, "Stupid question."

The young man slammed his foot into the ground and shot his right arm upward, launching a disc of earth into one of the riders. He snapped his head to the side as the archer fired another bow at him. Slamming his other foot into the ground, he rose a wall of earth up which shielded himself from the flaming arrow. He spun around, screaming loudly as he slammed his palm into the wall, sending a chunk of rock towards the archer, which connected with the rider.

Next, one of the riders threw a stick of dynamite at the young Earthbender. The boy spun around, crouched down, and then sprung his whole body in an upward motion, standing with only one leg on the ground. A pillar of earth rocketed up from the ground, hitting the dynamite and launching it into the air where it exploded harmlessly. The boy spun around and slammed his fist into the ground with a furious cry. The ground below the Rough Rhino and his mount opened up into a pit, which the two fell into.

The last rider, a Firebender no less, launched a streak of fire at the young Earthbender. The boy quickly ducked and rolled behind one of the columns he raised up earlier while the leader of the Rough Rhinos continued pressing with the streak of fire. The boy stood up and used the earth to rocket himself into the air. He reached the top of the column he raised earlier and kicked it with both feet, breaking the top of it. The earth pillar slowly inched forward and fell, threatening to crush the Firebender. The man looked up and gasped, quickly pulling his mount to the side as the chunk of rock hit the ground.

The young Earthbender landed on the ground, squaring off against the Firebender. Before either could attack, a slab of rock came and sidelined the Firebender, knocking him off his horse. The unconscious man was pinned under the heavy earth. The young Earthbender slowly looked to the side, seeing a bored looking blind girl with her arm outstretched and her fist clenched.

"Um…thank you," the boy called out.

"Helpful tip?" Toph lifted her foot up and then slammed it into the ground. The young man looked to the side, seeing the demolition expert trying to climb out of the pit he made. Before he could pull himself out, a piece of earth shot out from the edge of the pit, slamming into his chest hard and throwing him back down to the bottom. "Holes in the ground don't do much except delay the bad guys."

"I know that, thanks," the young boy stated with a bit of an annoyed tone. "I was actually going to deal with him after I dealt with the more pressing opponent."

"More pressing? A guy throwing bombs at you isn't pressing at all?"

The young man crossed his arms, leaning back a bit as he narrowed his eyes, "Not as pressing as the guy shooting fire at me."

"Burns and being blown into tiny bits, hmm, I wonder which is worse?"

"You know your sarcasm really brings out the assery in your tone."

"How about a nice thank you for saving my life?"

"You didn't save anything! I took care of the Rough Rhinos while you ran away from a group of men who wanted to turn in a draft dodger and get some money." The boy paused and looked over to the pit he created. He pointed a finger at the hole in the ground and turned back to Toph, "And that guy didn't even have a bomb yet."

"Spirits, you whine a lot, you know that?"

The young man shook his head and laughed in disbelief, "You always so confrontational with people you just met? Or does being a smart-ass come naturally to you?"

"You'd be surprised," Toph replied with a dull tone in her voice. "By the way, while you were fighting, the convoy left."

The young man quickly snapped his head around, a look of dread on his face as the young woman's words were confirmed. He groaned and hung his head before turning back to his blind opponent, "Well great. There goes my ride."

"Where did you even come from anyway," Toph asked, putting her hands on her hips.

"I was a stowaway, same as you. I figured that if I fought off the bad guys then maybe they'd be a little grateful and give me some supplies."

"Yeah right, draft dodgers are hated about as much as the Fire Nation," Toph replied with a soft huff.

"I've long since come to realize," the boy stated. He sighed heavily before walking forward. Toph narrowed her eyes skeptically, tensing up a bit. "Well…care to stick together? I mean life is hard in the Earth Kingdom for draft dodgers like us."

"No thanks," Toph replied immediately. The blind girl shoved the young Earthbender out of the way and started walking away. The sound of a loud thud was heard, and before Toph could react, something caught her foot. The young woman cried out before she fell flat on her face in the dirt.

Toph slowly lifted her head up. She could feel her feel her fellow draft dodger's body shaking slightly as he tried to contain his laughter.

"You," the blind girl began slowly, her tone dripping with venom, "are DEAD!"

Toph lifted herself off of the ground, holding in her hands two large chunks of earth. She spun around, the tips of her toes connected to the ground, and shot both rocks at the young boy. The boy bent backwards, watching as the two chunks of earth passed by his face. He planted his hands on the ground and flipped back onto his feet, crouched to the ground. Toph's whole body moved in one fluid motion towards the ground. She screamed and punched the earth with all her might, creating a thunderous sound. The boy looked down and quickly crossed his arms over his chest as a solid pillar of earth came up and slammed into him. The impact sent the boy flying back and slammed into the ground hard.

"Ow," the young man groaned with a very weak wheeze.

"Toph one, Man-Boy zero." The boy lifted his head up, one eye closed as he strained himself in pain.

The young man sat up and growled angrily before his face was suddenly stricken with shock. "No…way. You…you're the Blind Bandit aren't you!" The blind Earthbender's shoulders slumped over as she groaned. "Oh don't act so surprised. You were famous in the underground Earthbending Tournaments as the Blind Bandit."

"Wait…" Toph raised her head, a look of genuine curiosity on her face, "You watched the Earthbending Tournaments in Gaoling?"

"I use to visit every year to watch the Earthbending Tournaments. I was there at Earth Rumble VI when you took down every contender single handedly." The boy groaned as he rose up to his feet and dusted himself off, "I'm surprised I didn't recognize you sooner."

"Well I've…changed my appearance since then." Toph blew up, causing her bangs to temporarily dance a little. She pointed her finger to them, "I didn't have these hanging in my face."

"And as the blind bandit you had a ponytail," the boy added. "Now it's just one large…bun like…thing."

Toph put a hand on her hip, leaned to one side and sighed. "Okay, fine. I guess you can tag along with me. But only because we're draft dodgers!"

"And it has nothing to do with me being a fan," the boy added smugly, "Right."

"No, I just need a punching bag, and you fit the role quite nicely."

"Yeah, yeah, you got lucky that time. We're keeping score from now on."

Toph threw her head back and laughed as she started walking alongside her new partner, "Gladly Man-Boy. I didn't know you were such a glutton for punishment!"

"I have a name you know."

"And you haven't told me it yet. So until then, you're Man-Boy."

"My name is Kegare." There was a pause as the two Earthbenders continued to walk through the wastelands.

"I prefer Man-Boy." Kegare groaned, slapping the palm of his hand to his forehead.

"This is gonna be a long trip if I've ever been on one…"

"Quit your bitching, you'll be fine Man-Boy."

"You make a habit of swearing a lot," Kegare questioned. Toph shrugged in response, keeping her eyes closed. The male Earthbender sighed and rolled his eyes, _'This is going to be an active trip…'_

* * *

**And here begins my first Avatar: the Last Airbender fic. Good night I'm giving myself too much on my 'to-do list.' I'm also kinda if-ish about this beginning. But, oh well, I've been wanting to post this story for awhile now lol.  
To those of you who are confused so far about what's going on with the state of the world, and the progress of the War: don't worry, I'll explain it in later chapters. The whole plot progression actually being progressive and all that noise.  
I was thinking about having chapter one be a long explanation about how the War started and all that, but then remembered the GIANT walls of text I had on the first chapter of Wrath of Fire (Naruto AU story). So instead, you'll learn about the AU goodness as the story goes. Gives it like a hint of mysterious doesn't it? I haven't done that (not have the storyline laid out in front of everyone that is) before, so FUN!**

**Basic summary: Toph centric AU story, a few OCs, (won't be beating you over the head with OCs out the wazoo, just enough to kind of balance out things), lots of familiar characters with new roles in the story, and a new storyline with lots of familiar stuff and junk. The Team will have mostly different members from Team Avatar, so that'll be fun hopefully. Beginning of the story may seem a bit rushed, but that's just to get things going. I still have room for one more potential member, which I'm currently pondering over how fun it'll be to have a specific canon character in the Team. I'm up for any suggestions the fans might have though, be it OC or canon characters.**


	2. Getting to Know You

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN MY MONEY ISN'T ANY GOOD HERE?" Toph slammed her hands on the wooden bar between her and an inn keeper that she was about two seconds from killing. In the corner of the room, Kegare leaned back against the wall and played with his fingernails, knowing that neither Toph nor the inn keeper would back down.

"It's not that your money isn't good, it's that I charge two gold pieces a night. You gave me two copper pieces."

"Does it look like I know the difference? I'm BLIND!" Toph pulled down her bottom eyelids to show her pale green eyes to the inn keeper. "You're really going to turn away a young, innocent blind girl?"

"With the mouth you got on ya, I doubt you're innocent ya brat. Besides, your boyfriend looks strong enough to defend you."

"He's not my boyfriend-,"

"I'm not her boyfriend-," The two Earthbenders looked over at each other with a puzzled look.

The Inn Keeper laughed before walking towards the back door, "Yeah, you two aren't a couple."

"Okay, look," Kegare sighed as he reached back to his pocket. He pulled out two gold pieces and showed them to the inn keeper. "Can we stay the night now?"

"It's two gold pieces per person," the Inn Keeper stated.

"This is robbery! ROBBERY I SAY!"

"Do you _really_ want to keep dealing with her," Kegare questioned, pointing to Toph. The inn keeper turned around, grabbed the nearest set of keys and slammed them on the counter. "Thank you very much sir." The young Earthbender took the keys off of the counter and placed the gold pieces in their place. "Come on trouble maker." Kegare grabbed Toph's arm and dragged her away from the inn keeper.

"I'll remember this you thieving jack—WHOA!" Kegare violently pulled Toph down the hallway and out of sight from the inn keeper.

"Spirits, I've never had so much trouble getting one room before." Toph glared blindly at Kegare, who was now trying to unlock the door to their room. As soon as he opened the door, Toph shoved the male Earthbender to the side and entered the room. Kegare steadied himself and scowled, sighing through his nose before finally coming into the room. Toph jumped on the bed furthest from the door, lying on her back and looking up. "You seem…awfully angry…er than usual."

"Bite me!" Kegare simply scratched his cheek with a curious look on his face. Toph sighed, narrowing her eyes as she gazed blindly at the ceiling. "I'm just…kinda fed up with this whole stupid crap."

"What do you mean? You're an Earthbender. Were you some type of noblewoman or something?" Toph's eyes narrowed further, a deep scowl forming on her face. Kegare noticed the look on the blind girl's face. He sat down on the bed across from his partner, "Or…you were of some _type_ of noble status before the War."

"Don't think about kidnapping me. I'll kick your butt into next week if you try it."

"Oh I'd never dream of going against the Blind Bandit," Kegare replied, a grin forming his face. Toph rolled her head back, gazing her nonfunctioning eyes over at her fellow Earthbender. "Alright, no sarcasm. Duly noted."

"You're a crappy Earthbender, but at least you can pick up clues quickly enough." Kegare shrugged offhandedly in agreement. Toph moved her head back in place, staring blindly at the ceiling. "For awhile, I was able to just flaunt my status as a member of the Bei Fong family around and get whatever I want."

"Wait, wait, wait, _the_ Bei Fong family?"

"You NEVER interrupt when a woman is talking moron," Toph shouted. "Can I talk?" Kegare stayed silent. After a few seconds Toph took another small breath and continued, "Whatever I couldn't get with my family status, I could just take with my Earthbending. Then that stupid Draft kicked in, and all Earthbenders were required to join the army. The Underground Earthbending Tournament was canceled, and all of the members were shipped off to fight the Fire Nation. Once the Earth Kingdom found out who the Blind Bandit was, they wanted to throw me out in the front lines. My parents denied I had any talent, cause I hid that from them and my Earthbending 'teacher.' I was forced to use my Earthbending to stop the Dai Li recruiters, then I ran away, but not before I got my parents into their carriage.

"After that, we went separate ways, cause I knew that the Earth Kingdom would be more likely to come after me to get me to join the army, rather than my parents for unknowingly harboring a draft dodger like myself."

"You didn't learn how to Earthbend from a teacher," Kegare asked.

"Not a human teacher." There was a prolonged moment of silence. Toph closed her eyes in annoyance. She could practically feel her 'partner's' curiosity lingering in the air. "I always hated the fact that everyone I ever met treated me like some helpless princess because I couldn't see. My parents were the worst when it came to babying me. I ran away one day when I was really young, not really knowing where I was going. I evidently found myself in a cave, where a group of Badgermoles, the original Earthbenders, found me. They saw I was blind like them, and I learned from them. Since they're blind, they see using their feet. Every person or animal's movement across the ground sends out vibrations. As long as my bare feet," Toph raised her leg up, wiggling her toes in the air to emphasize her point, "are touching the ground, I can 'see' everything from the vibrations alone."

"That's…impressive," Kegare admitted. The boy pulled out the hair tie for his ponytail, letting his black hair fall down around his head. "And it would explain a lot."

Toph smiled a bit, lowering her leg over the edge of the bed, letting the tips of her toes tough the ground. "You're probably the first person to believe that story."

"Well I don't know any Earthbenders who can see using their feet alone. Except the Badgermoles that is. And you seem rather fond of using neutral jing."

"Now there's a surprise," Toph exclaimed, the smile on her face obvious from her tone alone. "I didn't know there were any Earthbenders who knew about the jings."

"Well, my father taught me about the different types of jing. And he learned it from his Earthbending teacher."

Toph moved her head up a bit towards Kegare's direction, "So your dad was your Earthbending teacher?"

"Kind of I guess." The male Earthbender lied down on the bed, propping his chin on his arms while looking in Toph's direction. "He taught me some basic stuff, and the concept of each main jing, positive, negative, and neutral. After that he went off to join the army to fight the Fire Nation, leaving mom, my sister, and I by ourselves."

"Oh…" Toph's eyes softened a bit in sympathy. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry."

"Don't be." Kegare rolled onto his back, resting his hands under the back of his head, "He was hardly there to begin with. He wasn't really a bad father. I mean he was the only one who brought food home because he was the only one working. Mom had to take care of me and the newborn. Once I was old enough, dad started training me to Earthbend. Just when I think we were starting to bond," Kegare lifted his hand up to the ceiling and waved it in the air, as if brushing his emotions aside, "and he's leaves us high and dry." He moved his hand back behind his head and sighed.

Toph remained silent, unsure of what to say. "Was he patriotic or something?" The blind Earthbender mentally kicked herself for the stupid question.

"A little bit."

"Are you?"

"I _was_."

"What happened?" Kegare groaned, causing Toph to smirk a bit. She enjoyed having someone around to torture on a regular basis. Kegare arched his neck, looking up at the top of Toph's head.

"I wanted to be like my father. When the Draft started, I joined the military."

"That was a year ago," Toph pointed out. "You have to be at least sixteen to join the Draft. You would've been what age?"

"Fifteen," Kegare replied.

"How'd you manage to pull that off?"

"I told them I was sixteen, the Draft just started and the door to join the army was left wide open. As long as you didn't look like a child, and you could Earthbend properly, the army took you. I was actually better than half of the men who joined up."

"Because they don't know the concept of waiting and listening right," Toph asked.

"Pretty much. Anyway, I was apart of the Terra Team. They're an 'elite' platoon of Earthbenders who take out large regiments at a time with their coordination in Earthbending. Thing is though, if you break up the team and get the members in single confrontation, they're next to worthless. I was probably one of the few who could actually hold his own by themselves. Anyway, a large platoon was deployed to take out this huge Fire Nation encampment. We were going to attack at night, so the enemy's Firebending was at it's weakest without the sun, and strike from all sides. We were going to sink their tanks, crush their weapons, and take out anyone else in our way."

"Something went wrong right," Toph guessed.

"Oh yeah. Big time. The Terra Team, the squad I was assigned to, was going to make the first strike with a powerful display of Earthbending. Once the Fire Nation was awake and mobilizing, then every other team would move in and attack. Well, some idiots decide to break formation, thinking they could do more damage if we broke up the squad and sent multiple powerful strikes. Unfortunately, our commanding officer told them to get back into formation, a Fire Nation soldier who received nature's calling saw us and alerted the camp before we could strike."

Kegare closed his eyes and sighed heavily, "The resulting battle was…unorganized, to put it kindly." Toph remained silent, her eyes closed as she listened to her partner's story. Kegare closed his eyes as well as he began to recall the events of that night. "Lots of stupid choices were made by both sides. I provided defense during the fight, rather than actually attacking. Figured save as many lives as possible since there was no way that the battle would be ended quickly and cleanly. I tried to get everyone to retreat, but they were hell bent on completing the mission. Eventually, we lost enough numbers, and a small group of Fire Nation reinforcements showed up before we decided retreating was a good idea. When we returned to Ba Sing Se, the few surviving members of my team were tried for treason, which was the formal way of saying stupidity."

"On what charges," Toph shouted, rolling onto her front. "It's like your team intentionally startled the Fire Nation!"

"No, but we broke formation from the plan, defying the direct orders that we were given from one of the generals, and Long Feng himself." Toph's eyes opened and immediately narrowed into slits of hatred upon hearing that man's name. Kegare opened his eyes as well and continued, "Our insubordination also alerted the enemy, and got twenty five capable Earthbenders killed. The results of our actions weren't exactly in the best interests of the Kingdom." Toph scowled bitterly, rolling over onto her side before letting out a small huff of disapproval. "Or at least that's what Long Feng told our squad when I asked what charges. Everyone except my commanding officer was sentenced to be executed. I lucked out, because they found out I was only fifteen, and too young to be on the front lines. Long Feng figured that one, it would be bad if it got out an under aged kid got into the military via the Draft, making more people oppose it, and two if it got out that I did join the army and was executed, that could turn the people against him and the army. So instead, I was sent back home, dishonorably discharged from service."

"So why are you on the run from the Earth Kingdom forces now?"

"Well, now that I'm sixteen, Long Feng figures he can kill me now, throw my body out in the front lines, say I died in action before I start telling people the dirty little secret about how a fifteen year old joined the army and was sent out into the front lines. To him, I'm just a loose end. So I left before the Dai Li showed up, and my mom and sister moved to another town without telling anyone about it. I don't even know where they're at right now, and they don't know where I am."

"Really? I know where my parents are at least."

"It's safer for us if we don't know where the other is. Or even our friends from the village. That way Long Feng can't use anyone or anything to track us."

"Your family just thinks of everything huh?" Kegare shrugged, smiling a bit as he looked up at the ceiling. Toph let her arms lie stretched out on the bed. She closed her eyes and sighed, ready to go to sleep. "Wait…" The blind Earthbender's eyes reopened with a curious glint in them. "Does your name have anything to do with what happened in the military?"*

"My, aren't we the nosey little blind girl."

"The nosey little blind girl who is going to have you sleeping in the dirt if you don't answer her question!" Kegare sighed in annoyance and closed his eyes in some vague hope that he could shut Toph out. "Now tell me about your name."

"My real name or your degrading nickname you dubbed me with?"

"Your 'real' name Man-Boy."

"My parents just really didn't like me."

"You must LOVE sleeping six feet underground."

Kegare sighed again and tightened his shut eyes. Toph waited, shaking her foot impatiently. "It's more of a nickname I gave myself. I decided changing my name would help with the whole disappearing from Long Feng's sights thing. I may not be very patriotic, and I think a lot of the people in my squad on the Terra Team were idiots, but I still cared for them. They were like my brothers. And the fact I wasn't executed along with them…I think it makes me a bit of a disgrace in that regard."

"So what? You're running away to find some way to redeem yourself, and then you just hand yourself over to death?"

"No, not exactly. I'm not suicidal. I won't just roll over at let the Dai Li take me back to Long Feng to die."

"But you are looking for a way to redeem yourself," Toph asked.

"I'm looking for a way to make a difference. If I learned one thing from my time in the military, it's that we never accomplished anything. At least it never felt that way. It always seemed like we were beating our heads against the wall, doing the same thing, fighting the same faces, with no sign of victory in sight. And in the military, they didn't care about anything besides victory. It didn't matter how many lives you uprooted, as long as you got one tactical advantage, or one small victory against the Fire Nation, then it was worth it.

"That's why I wanted to try and make some type of small difference. I wanted to help people, to save lives, not to take them, or uproot, or ruin them. I wanted to make a change for the better."

"And if you become some type of hero to the common people around the Earth Kingdom, then Long Feng can't kill you without losing the support of the people?"

"Maybe I'm doing this out of the goodness of my heart," Kegare stated, "Is it so hard to believe I'm a good person?"

Silence lingered in the air. Kegare looked over at Toph before he rolled over in bed. He pulled up the blankets over his body and closed his eyes.

"There's no way you're a good person," Toph finally said.

Kegare groaned, putting a pillow over his head. On the other bed, Toph grinned widely for no other reason than she gave her new partner a goodnight pestering.

"Toph two, Man-Boy zero," the blind Earthbender whispered to herself happily.

"I'm dealing with you aren't I," Kegare finally spoke up after he removed the pillow from his head. Toph's brow furrowed in confusion. "I don't know many other people or creatures that would tolerate you for this long. Even the Spirits themselves would've been driven off by you." The blind Earthbender tilted her head to the side, her face twisted in insulted confusion. "Blind, hard-headed girl one, Kegare one."

"Wait, what happened to my two?"

"You lost that when I came up with that comeback," Kegare replied. "Now go to bed. You can be angry in the morning."

"I'm gonna kick your butt once I get enough sleep!"

"Looking forward to it," Kegare said sleepily with a long yawn at the end.

"Night Man-Boy."

"Goodnight Blind Girl."

* * *

***Kegare means 'disgrace,' '****uncleanness****,' and/or 'impurity' in Japanese, according to a translation site I used. But basically the term is a very negative thing in Japanese, and is more specifically a Shinto religious term. Neat eh?**

**Hope you're enjoying the story, and leave a review on your way out =D**


	3. Honor Amongst Thieves

"You're an idiot," Toph said after a prolonged silence. Kegare glared off into the distance with his lips puckered out in confusion.

"Not sure what I did to deserve that." The two Earthbenders were walking down the side of a dirt road, with no signs of life anywhere in sight. Kegare looked around for a moment to make sure he didn't blunder in some fantastic fashion and missed it. He looked back at Toph, "Okay, I'll bite. Why am I an idiot?"

"I dunno. Just felt like making conversation."

Kegare rolled his eyes, "You know, the random insults are just a bit hurtful from time to time, you know that?"

"Insults don't typically make a person feel better genius."

"Spirits, it's a wonder you haven't gotten a companion to join you sooner."

"I didn't ask you to come along, and I never wanted a partner. You tagged along because you're a fan!"

"No, I tagged along cause we're both draft dodgers, and we decided to stick together since we're both on the run."

"Well I've decided you're an idiot!"

"And I've decided you're a child," Kegare said with a winded sigh. They hadn't even walked that far, but already he was getting tired. It was mostly because of Toph's relentless campaign to insult Kegare every second of the day.

A young woman dressed in all black came out onto the trail, cutting the two Earthbenders off. She had long black hair pulled back into a topknot, with hair hanging down and covering her right eye, a dark shade of lipstick, and a darker color for her eye shadow. Her attire consisted of a tight shirt with its sleeves not even going past her shoulders, dark brown bandages wrapped around the rest of her arms, reaching down the middle of her forearms, a few belts strapped around her abdomen, and a belt around her waist that held a long dress over her black boots and pants.

The young woman looked worried, and she was panting heavily as though she'd been running for quite awhile. "Damn it!" Toph and Kegare both raised questioning brows in the direction of the young woman across from them.

"Um…is something wrong miss," Kegare asked.

"I was trying to find a caravan led by the Fire Nation! They raided my village and kidnapped my family!" Kegare's eyes narrowed in disgust upon hearing this.

"What did you expect to do by yourself Missy," Toph asked in a scolding tone. "You against a group of Fire Nation soldiers by yourself?"

"I…I dunno. I had to do something. I wasn't about to lose my family!"

"We're Earthbenders," the blind girl said, "We can help you get your family back." Kegare shot a questioning glance over in his partner's direction. The woman smiled and bowed her head to both Toph and Kegare.

"Thank you, thank you so much. They're coming, hurry!" Kegare looked back over his shoulder before Toph grabbed him by the arm and yanked him violently towards the bushes.

"How did she know they were coming," Kegare whispered softly to Toph.

"Shut up," Toph snapped. The male Earthbender scowled at his partner before looking back at the trail.

Four wagons were approaching, locked down tight. Kegare narrowed his eyes skeptically, having an odd feeling about the mysterious young woman. He also didn't know why in the world Toph was so eager to help some wayward girl. Toph didn't seem heartless, but she didn't seem like the type who would stick her neck out for random strangers either.

"Ready Man-Boy?"

"Not entirely, but then again I don't have a choice do I?" His fellow Earthbender shook her head in response.

Toph stood up and spun her arms around in a fast, pinwheel like motion. A giant pillar of rock shot up from the ground and smashed into the rear wagon. The animals pulling the convoy and the soldiers around all cried out in shock. Kegare slid his foot forward, twisting his ankle a bit to send out a wave of softened ground forward at the convoy. The dirt caused the wheels of the wagons to sink into the ground a bit, rendering them immobile and off balance. The guards all lost their footing and stumble about, before a solid wave of earth courtesy of a blind Earthbender knocked them down.

"Stop her!"

Kegare rushed forward, planning to take cover behind the overturned wagon before a wall of earth cut him off. The former soldier skidded to a halt, gasping softly before looking over to the side. He looked over and saw a couple of Earth Kingdom soldiers, who were the cause of the wall blocking him.

"Oh you're kidding me..."

"You're under arrest for attacking members of the Earth Kingdom military and-," The soldier was cut off when Toph's fist came crashing down on the back of his head. The man's face was implanted deep into the ground, causing the other two soldiers to turn and gasp in shock. Toph swung her arms out, punching the soldiers in the arm before two pillars of earth jutted out and sent them flying.

"We were tricked," Toph called out, sounding not too surprised.

"Very perceptive for a blind girl! I guess you'll tell me that you knew that we were attacking the Earth Kingdom from the beginning huh!" Toph placed a hand on her hip, leaning to the side while gazing in Kegare's direction. The two sixteen year olds were silent. Kegare's eyes widened as the realization hit him, "Oh you have GOT to be kidding me!"

"You didn't ask who we were attacking," Toph pointed out.

"I didn't figure we'd be attacking the Earth Kingdom! What the hell makes you think that it was a good idea to attack them when we're trying to avoid unwanted attention from the Earth Kingdom!"

"She's getting away!" Kegare looked over to the edge of the forest, seeing the black haired woman they just 'helped' disappearing behind the trees with a large bag on her back. "She took our supplies! Get her!"

"Apprehend her accomplices!" The Earth Kingdom soldiers looked back to where they last saw the two Earthbenders, only to realize that they were now gone.

* * *

Kegare and Toph scrambled through the forest in a panic, worrying more about escaping the Earth Kingdom than finding the woman who tricked them.

"Why in the world did we help her? You knew that we were going to attack Earth Kingdom soldiers and you just let it happen? What's wrong with you!"

"Keep yelling and I just might leave your unconscious butt for those soldiers to find! I figured maybe someone in her family was taken away by the Draft, and maybe she was trying to get them back! I didn't know she was a thief!"

"Good job! From now on let's THINK before we help strangers!"

"I'm SERIOUSLY going to drop you!" The two sixteen year olds rushed through the forest as quickly as they could, leaving the soldiers in their dust.

* * *

Toph and Kegare both sat under a tree, less than a mile outside of a nearby village, in order to rest. Toph panted softly while Kegare looked out to the nearby town. "I wonder why they stopped chasing us," the former soldier asked.

"Who cares," Toph bitterly snapped. "I'm just glad that they're off our butts!"

Kegare crossed his arms and tilted his head to the side, humming quietly to himself. "This town...it doesn't seem to have any civilian town or any type of farming outpost."

Toph placed her feet flat on the ground and blindly looked off into the distance. "There's a lot of people in it...and a lot of commotion going on in one area of the town." Toph stood up and dusted her clothes off, "Let's go check it out!"

"Says the girl who wanted to help a total stranger." Despite the sarcastic remark, Kegare stood up to his feet and followed Toph towards the town.

The two sixteen year olds headed in the direction of the entrance. Kegare noted the appearances of the gruff and tough looking men gazing curiously in their direction. There were a few murmurs of confusion amongst the inhabitants of the town, which Toph overheard.

"Toph," Kegare whispered with a hint of doubt.

"Man-Boy," was Toph's very simply reply in the form of a question.

"I think we entered, for lack of a better term, a den of thieves. Or a cave of criminals. Or a lair of liars. Or a hole of-,"

"Are ya done yet," Toph snapped.

"I had more, but I guess I could stop." The two Earthbenders continued through the town, making sure not to draw unwanted attention to themselves. "I take it you're not the type to let a grudge go…?"

Toph tilted her head to the side, keeping her blind eyes forward, "What ever do you mean by that?" Kegare rolled his eyes at the unnecessary amount of sarcasm in the young lady's tone.

"You're going to look for that woman who used us to rob the Earth Kingdom aren't you?"

"Maybe I am. You gonna stop me?"

"I just don't want to cause a riot in the streets of this town. These people look like they wanna mug us right now as it is."

"If you wanna be a baby, then by all means wait for me at the exit." Kegare shook his head, deciding to stay silent for the time being. Toph stopped in her tracks, paying very close attention to the vibrations through her feet. "I think I know where she is. Follow me, and don't fall behind!"

Toph ran down the street to the right with Kegare behind her. Toph ran quickly, making sharp turns and dodging through people effortlessly. Kegare had a bit more trouble keeping up with the blind girl, having no general idea as to where they were even going.

* * *

The young woman dressed all in black dropped the heavy bag to the nearest soldier, who nearly tumbled over from the sheer weight of the loot. He gave a confused look to the young woman as to how she carried it with such ease before waddling off to sort through the treasures.

"Impressive as always I see," a voice spoke from the shadows. The young woman looked over to the man, whose face was shrouded in darkness. "This almost puts you out of debt."

"A deal is a deal. You said if I gave you this from that Earth Kingdom transport, then you'd tell me where they were."

"I believe I said 'where at least _one_of your family members is,' didn't I?" The man put his hands behind his back and turned around, looking at a map which was barely lit from the few candles in the room. "One last assignment, and I promise I'll release them both."

"You said one last assignment four months ago," the young woman snapped angrily, slamming her fist on the desk separating her and the man who was the source of her anger. The two guards tensed up a bit, ready to defend their leader if need be. "My parents were taken off into this stupid War, and you said they're prisoners! I've gotten you more than enough supplies, I've sabotaged more than enough of the Earth Kingdom's advancements, and I've done MORE than my fair share of favors to you!"

Silence lingered in the air for some time. The man raised his arm up, lifting a single finger in the air, "One last assignment. Then I promise I'll give you your family back." The young woman scowled, reaching behind her back.

"How about you tell me now, before I get REALLY mad?" She gripped a knife ducked in her belt and slowly began to draw the blade out. She was past compromising with this man.

"As I said; this next assignment is crucial. Complete it as you have the others, and I'll release your entire family."

The young woman narrowed her eyes before pulling out a small knife, "I want my family back, NOW!"

The guards moved to apprehend the young woman. Before they could put their hands on her, the woman quickly rolled forward onto the desk, lying on her back. She shot one leg out to the man on her right, kicking him squarely in the side of his armored head. The soldier fell to the side with a small dent in his metal helmet. The second man turned around just as the woman spun around on her back and faced him. She shot her leg out again with the same lightning fast speed and kicked him squarely in his exposed neck. The man gasped silently, holding his throat as he fell to his knees before the lack of oxygen rendered him unconscious. Before the last soldier hit the ground, the young woman spun around and swung her knife towards her blackmailer. She froze in place when she saw a fist aimed right at her face.

Time seemed to stand still as the young woman analyzed the situation carefully. Her eyes, harboring a bit of fear, met a pair of golden ember eyes hidden behind the shadows.

* * *

Toph and Kegare entered a tavern, which was in an uproar with drunken men stomping, walking, and dancing to loud music. "Great," Kegare murmured. "Finding her in this group should be easy enough."

"It's kinda hard for me to see in this place," Toph groaned. Kegare turned his attention to his partner, who was holding the side of her head in pain. "Too much crazy going on…" Toph wobbled from side to side before she was about to fall over. The male Earthbender quickly caught her by her arm and held her up straight.

"Here, I'll carry you," Kegare offered. "At least until we find our friendly thief."

A thunderous crash was heard, causing the drunken cries and music to stop immediately. A young woman dressed in black had been thrown through a solid wooden door by a jet of fire, soared through the air, and had crashed hard into the bar. She slid down the smooth wood for a bit before falling over the side with pieces of broken glass littering the bar and floor around her, and all manner of alcohol running all over.

"Found her," Toph said, a newfound life in her tone as all the commotion in the room had been stricken dead.

All eyes turned to the door the woman had just been thrown through. Two Imperial Firebenders and four other Firebenders came out of the room, branching out on either side of the doorway.

"It's such a shame you know," a voice said softly. A young, strong looking man, dressed in high ranking Fire Nation attire walked into the bar, his hands behind his back. "I was going to keep my promise, you know that?" The young woman groaned in pain, slowly rolling over onto her side. The high ranking Fire Nation officer walked further into the bar with the two Imperial Firebenders following him. "All you had to do was be a good little girl and take out one general. Was that so much to ask June?"

The woman in black growled furiously as she pulled herself up to her feet. Glaring daggers at the Fire Nation officer, the woman named June reached to her hip and grabbed a hold of her whip. The two Imperial Firebenders quickly moved between her and their commanding officer. The man simply huffed with a smirk of amusement.

"I would suggest standing down dear June."

"Give me back my family first," the woman scowled.

Kegare and Toph still stood at the entrance, staring at the building tension between June and the Fire Nation officer. "I knew she wasn't lying," Toph murmured. Kegare quickly turned his head to his fellow Earthbender.

"You what?"

"She said her family was taken by the Fire Nation right? When she told us that, I could tell she wasn't lying." Kegare's brow furrowed in confusion. He looked at June then back to Toph.

"You…what?"

Toph rolled her blind eyes and groaned in frustration, "I can sense vibrations remember? I can also tell if a person is lying because of it. There's always a tell. An unnerved shake, increase in heartbeat, there's always something. She wasn't lying when she said that the Fire Nation took her family."

"She still didn't tell us we were stealing from the Earth Kingdom, adding to our growing list of felonies," Kegare added.

"She told us the truth. It wasn't the whole truth, but the truth nonetheless."

Kegare shook his head and crossed his arms over his chest, "I think you're just sympathizing for her cause she's a woman." Toph's response was a solid punch to Kegare's arm, "OW!"

June lashed her whip out at the first Imperial Firebender. The leather weapon wrapped around the man's helmet, holding firmly in place. June pulled forward with all her might, bringing the man's head down through a solid wooden table. The second Imperial Firebender shot a stream of fire out at June. The young woman nimbly sprung into the air and did a slow, graceful back flip. She landed on the Firebender's shoulders and quickly removed his helmet. June turned around and threw the helmet at the officer, who was moving to stop her. The young woman then grabbed onto the Imperial Firebender's head with both hands, flipped around backwards, and hurled the grown man across the room. The man was sent flying past all of the drunken thugs and bystanders before smashing through a window and landing face first into the muddy streets outside.

June turned around just as the officer shot a fireball at her. The young woman ducked and rolled to the side while the fireball broke through a nearby window and exploded outside.

"MY CABBAGES!" a male's shrill voice shrieked.

June, in a crouching position, lashed her whip at the officer. The man simply raised his arm up, letting the whip wrap around his forearm harmlessly. June scowled while the officer smirked. The young woman quickly moved forward, rushing the Fire Nation officer. At the last second, June fell onto her back and slid between the man's legs, pulling on her whip hard as she moved past him. The officer's arm was pulled down between his legs, causing him to flip around quickly. He landed on his feet and spun around to face June's direction again.

The two squared off, both playing tug-of-war with the whip. Two of the other Firebenders came over to their commanding officer's aid and pulled on the whip with him. June slid forward, gasping for a moment before regaining her footing. While she held her own, she was slowly being overpowered by the Fire Nation troops. Finally, she decided to rush forward, jump up into the air and attack the officer. The man simply huffed before he swung his other arm outward, slamming his forearm hard into June's gut. The woman released her whip and was sent flying through the air, landing on a nearby table with several glasses breaking under her. She slid back a little too far and fell to the ground, bringing the table with her.

"Take her," the officer ordered. Two Firebenders moved towards the unconscious woman while the other two stood by their commander's side.

As they approached, one of the Firebenders was sidelined. Kegare had slammed his shoulder into one of the Firebenders and was carrying the man away from his partner. The sixteen year old grabbed the Firebender by his armor, lifted him off the ground, spun around and slammed the man through a wooden table.

The second Firebender simply looked on in shock before he took a position to attack. A loud crash was heard, followed by a weak groan from the Firebender. The grown man fell to his knees and then landed flat on his face, revealing Toph standing behind him, holding the back of a broken chair.

The officer raised a questioning brow to the two young newcomers. Kegare dusted his hands off while looking over at the remaining Fire Nation troops, "Sorry, I can't abide unfair fights."

"Then again, having to fight me is pretty unfair, no matter how many men you have," Toph boasted, "If you're not on my side that is." Kegare sighed softly, wondering where the young girl's boundless confidence came from.

"I take it you two are friends of June there?"

"Not exactly friends," Kegare murmured.

"She tricked us into helping her rob from the Earth Kingdom. And I guess she gave the loot to you."

"And you're helping her? How curious." The officer waved his hand to his two conscious soldiers. The two remaining Firebenders stepped back while their officer stepped forward. "I can tell by the lack of shoes that you two must be Earthbenders." Toph and Kegare both narrowed their eyes and tensed up a bit. "In that case, I'll be taking you both down myself. It's been quite some time since I've fought an opponent by myself. What are your names, if I may ask?"

"You can call me Kegare."

"And I'm Toph! The world's greatest Earthbender!"

"Kegare and Toph…at least I know now what names to mark on your gravestones." The officer squatted down a bit, holding his elbows at his hips, "Prepare yourselves, Toph and Kegare, for the wrath of Lu Ten: son of Fire Lord Iroh!"

"The _WHAT _now," both Earthbenders shouted in unison.

The officer took a few steps forward and pumped his fists forward with a mighty roar. Two powerful jets of fire shot from his fists, towards both of the Earthbenders. Kegare lifted his foot up, turned it sideways, and slammed it into the floor. The wooden planks broke underfoot, but allowed Kegare to raise up a wall of earth between him and Lu Ten's fire. Toph did the same, but without having to break her foot through the floor.

At this point, the occupants of the bar started to vacate the area in the form of a panicked mob. Lu Ten pressed on with his streams of fire, watching carefully to make sure neither opponent slipped out of his sight.

Toph lifted her arms up, leaving her hands hanging down. The wall's bottom broke off from the ground, allowing Toph to push her arms and hands forward, sending her defense at the Fire Nation officer. Lu Ten spun to the side as the wall flew past him, and smashed into the last two conscious Fire Nation soldiers. The officer grinned in anticipation, clenching his fists in excitement.

Kegare simply kicked his wall in Lu Ten's direction. The Firebender looked to the side and quickly spun back around to avoid the wall of earth. Lu Ten spun his arms around and sent out a powerful stream of fire from both fists at Kegare's direction. The former soldier ducked and rolled forward under the stream of fire. He got close enough that Lu Ten had to stop his attack and prepare for hand-to-hand combat.

Kegare threw one fist at Lu Ten, which he effortlessly dodged. The Fire Nation officer's hand grabbed Kegare's wrist and held it in place. The Earthbender threw his other fist, which Lu Ten dodged and grabbed. Kegare's arms were awkwardly crossed over his chest, rendering him immobile and defenseless. Lu Ten grinned at the younger bender. Kegare then threw his head forward, smashing his forehead into the Firebender's. Lu Ten released the young Earthbender, crying out in pain as he held his hand over his face.

The former Earth Kingdom soldier rolled backwards on the floor as Toph jumped into the air, slammed her feet into the ground and swung her arms upward. Lu Ten stepped back as a pillar of earth shot out of the ground, stopping inches from his face. The officer looked up, seeing the two young Earthbenders heading towards a broken window with June in hand. Lu Ten scowled before spinning around, brining the heel of his foot crashing through the pillar of earth in a stream of fire.

"Explain to me why we're bringing her with us," Kegare asked, being the one who was carrying the unconscious June on his shoulder.

"Would _you _wanna be left to the mercy of the Fire Nation?" Kegare opened his mouth to concede the point, but was quickly pushed to the ground by Toph.

The blind Earthbender sprung to the side as a massive ball of fire shot between her and Kegare. Toph landed on the ground and pivoted around to face Lu Ten. "You didn't really think that you could just walk away did you?" The Firebender spun around, twisted his arm upside down and shot a stream of fire from his palm at Kegare and June.

Before the fire could even get close to the two, the mud from the road came up and smothered the burning element to a sizzle. Lu Ten's eyes shifted to Toph, who bent her left arm up and drove her right arm down. The Fire Nation officer narrowed his eyes skeptically for a moment, before the ground below him quickly started to consume him. Lu Ten cried out in shock, sinking quickly before his entire body was consumed in a matter of seconds.

"Now we run," Toph ordered, taking the lead as she ran past Kegare and June.

"Thanks for the help," Kegare shouted, having to get up to his feet in mud while carrying an unconscious woman who was half his weight. When he finally got up to his feet, he quickly ran and caught up with Toph.

* * *

June groaned, her head pounding as her eyes fluttered open. To her shock, it was nighttime and she was lying in front of a fire with a blanket over her body. Across from her sat the young blind girl, and behind her with his back turned was her partner in crime.

"W…what happened," June asked, holding the side of her head. Her usual topknot was gone, giving her hair a much longer and thicker look.

"Well, Lu Ten knocked you out," Toph began, "Man-Boy and I fought him for a bit, grabbed you, and ran like a bat outta hell. Now we're here, miles away from that town and the Fire Nation."

June rubbed the back of her neck, groaning softly as she tried to massage the soreness out, "Then I guess I owe you both my thanks…"

"Don't mention it," Toph said, waving her hand dismissively. "Just tell us why you tricked us and we might call it even." June's eyes traveled over to the two Earthbenders. She observed them for a moment before sighing and turning to face them both.

"In short? My father was a bounty hunter, and when the Draft kicked in, the Earth Kingdom brought both my mother, my father, and my pet Shirshu, Nyla into the War to help them. I spent most of my time trying to find them, but always came up short with most of my leads. Eventually, Lu Ten found me and said that my parents and Nyla were taken as prisoners of war, and he'd arrange to set them free if I helped him. I got fed up with doing his dirty work and never getting anywhere, so I decided to try to make him tell me and…well you both know the rest."

"Did you honestly expect that you could trust the Fire Nation," Kegare asked, looking over at June.

"Honestly? No, I never trusted Lu Ten. But I wanted my family back. No so much so I can have some type of tear-jerking reunion with them, but just so I know they're safe, and not risking their lives for this stupid War." June leaned back against a nearby rock and crossed her legs. "I'm not use to turning up dead end leads. And I was desperate enough to trust even the Fire Nation."

"So now that you know that working with the Fire Nation won't turn up anything, what'll you do now," Toph questioned.

"I'll keep searching. I don't care if I have to search every inch of this country, I will find my family one way or another." June sighed softly before quickly standing to her feet. "Thank you for saving me. And I'm sorry for tricking you both, but I had my reasons."

"Hold on their sweet-and-sour," Toph snapped. June turned her head around, a look of curiosity lingered in her eyes. "We can help you find your family." Kegare's head snapped up in alarm. June rose a questioning brow while a smirk of intrigue came over her lips.

"You can," the bounty hunter asked.

"We can," Kegare repeated.

"Hey, we weren't doing anything special aside from avoiding the Earth Kingdom and staying out of the War. Both Man-Boy and I here are draft dodgers, which means that crossing the Earth Kingdom and the Fire Nation isn't a problem for us."

"But attracting unwanted attention is a problem for us," Kegare stated in an angry matter-of-factly tone.

"Hey, she can handle herself in a fight," Toph pointed out. She turned her head in Kegare's direction before continuing. "Plus she's a bounty hunter, which means she has money that we don't. Not only that, but if we helped her find her family, then we can use their house to hide out if we need to." Toph caught herself and turned to June, rubbing the back of her head with an embarrassed smile, "With their permission of course." The bounty hunter crossed her arms and smiled at the blind young girl.

"So, you're only helping me because I come with benefits, and not because you're just a kind, sweet little girl? I like you already." Toph grinned and stood up.

"So do we have a deal?" The blind girl held her hand out in June's direction.

"Deal," the bounty hunter replied, shaking hands with the Earthbender.

"Welcome to Team Toph!" June giggled a bit, finding the name charming if nothing else. Kegare simply looked confused before shaking his head.

"When the hell did we become a team?"

"Well the Toph Duo is a stupid name," Toph snapped, whirling around in Kegare's direction. "And now we have more than two, so now we can be considered a team. Or at the very least the Toph Trio." Kegare let out an exasperated sigh, resting his knuckles against his forehead. June giggled softly before putting a hand on her hip.

"You know, you two make a pretty cute couple."

"We're not a couple," the two Earthbenders shouted simultaneously. They then turned to each other, pointing a finger at one another, "And you need to stop doing that!"

June bit her lower lip, trying to keep from laughing outright at her two new partners in crime. She sat back down and leaned against the rock behind her, watching as the two Earthbenders simply glared bitterly at one another.

* * *

After getting all of the mud off of him and out of his armor, Lu Ten sat in his room, calmly meditating in silence. The door opened, causing Lu Ten's face to twitch slightly in annoyance. "Well, well, the great Lu Ten, beaten by a couple of Earthbending children?"

"I was caught off guard, and went too easy on them. I promise you though Zhao if I ever see those children again, I will personally deal with them myself." The officer chuckled before entering Lu Ten's room.

"Honestly, what would your father think? Losing the best bounty hunter in the Earth Kingdom, bested by a couple of children, and what do you have to show for it?" Lu Ten, with his eyes still closed, held up a scroll in Zhao's direction. The man narrowed his eyes before cautiously taking the rolled up paper. Unraveling the scroll, Zhao's eyes traveled down the scroll, reading the contents carefully. A look of shock crossed the commander's face, "This is…"

"The location to the Spirit Library." Zhao's expression of surprise then switched to a devious sneer. "The closest one to the site of the library is General Shu. Send out a messenger bird to him and have him secure the area. You, dear commander, will go to this library in place of June and find out any information you can in order to better our chances in the War."

"Very well…" Zhao rolled up the scroll and headed for the door.

"And Zhao?" The commander stopped just short of the door, not bothering to turn around. "Don't anger the Spirit."

"Heh, you sound like that pacifistic traitor," Zhao stated. "I can handle myself and my men just fine without your guidance general."

Silence hung in the air as neither officer said a word. Lu Ten closed his eyes and took a small breath in through his nose, "My mistake then…" Zhao huffed below his breath before exiting Lu Ten's room. "Fool."


	4. Forming a Team

June sat in the lobby of the inn she and her new partners were staying at, sipping a cup of hot tea while reading a few scrolls and notes lying on the table in front of her. The bounty hunter was going over a map, marking Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation camps in one hand while holding a list of nearby bounties in the other hand. The Earthbending duo was asleep in their room. June herself was getting a little sleepy. She moved the back of her hand over her mouth as she yawned, perfectly on cue.

"Miss?" June looked up, a bit of a startled look in her eyes. The inn keeper poured more tea into June's cup.

"Oh, thank you. You don't have to stay up if you don't want to sir. I'll be heading to bed soon anyway." The inn keeper nodded before walking away. June craned her neck from side to side, trying to work out a way to catch a specific target that caught her eye. Humming quietly to herself as she scanned the map carefully, June noticed a figure walking towards the door. She moved her eyes up, seeing Toph heading to the door. The bounty hunter grew a small smirk of curiosity before standing up from the chair and following the blind girl.

June stood outside of the door, seeing Toph sitting on top of a hill. The chilling night wind blew, doing little more than blowing June's hair across her face. The bounty hunter walked forward through the two inch grass and sat next to the blind Earthbender.

"Hey there," Toph greeted.

"What're you doing up so late," June asked. "You're not planning to hunt anyone are you?"

"Nah, I just wanted to talk to you." June leaned to the side a bit with a puzzled expression. "Man-Boy likes to talk in his sleep...and I snore. It's kinda hard for either of us to sleep when the other person is in the room."

"Well, you know what they say about people who talk in their sleep," June said, looking up to the sky.

"They have some kind of embarrassing secret," Toph asked, nearly bouncing with excitement.

"No, they have a restless soul." Toph slumped over, whining in disappointment. June fell onto her back, resting her hands under the back of her head. "You try awfully hard to give him a hard time. Are you sure you don't have a crush on him or something?"

"NEVER!" Toph whipped her head around, glaring daggers at June with her lower lip sticking out. June grinned before crossing her legs and looking back up to the sky.

"Such a shame. He's kinda cute to be honest."

"Then you hit that," Toph murmured, turning her head forward. "I don't go for that whole trying-to-act-mysterious type."

"He's not really trying to be mysterious. From what I gathered he's pretty content telling you to your face that he doesn't want to talk about himself. It's a quality I actually admire."

"Again: then you hit that. I've got no intentions of being tied down to anyone, especially not Man-Boy."

"Pet names are a cute start I suppose," June mused to herself as she seemingly ignored Toph. The blind Earthbender took notice of it, and grew slightly peeved.

"I give everyone 'pet names.' Even you!"

"Then what's mine?" Toph opened her mouth momentarily, only to close it again. June smirked challengingly, despite the fact her partner couldn't see it.

"Sweet-and-Sour!" June couldn't help but throw her head back and laugh. The bounty hunter slowly came down from her laughter, before letting out a small, shaky breath of relief.

"I like it. Suites my personality."

"I call it as I see it sister."

"You don't see though," June pointed out with a bit of a smirk.

"Details, detail," Toph replied as she waved her hand around dismissively. "So were you close to your parents?" The bounty hunter looked over to her blind companion with a bit of a shocked look on her face. Silence lingered in the air for a moment as June comprehended the personal question given to her.

"I was sort of close I guess," June finally said, her voice quiet. She lifted her legs up and rested her chin on her knees while wrapping her arms around her shins. "Mom always said I had a lot of my father in me. Seeing as how I became a bounty hunter, I'd say she hit the nail on the head with that one. She and dad…they weren't unhappy, but dad was away a lot, and there were a few arguments. Mom and I fought a lot, mostly because I did stupid and dangerous things to try and be more like dad. But all and all, when we were together as a family, we were happy. Nothing too horribly dramatic I'm afraid. No stories of abuse, or how dad cheated on mom, or anything like that."

"Sounds so very normal," Toph smugly stated.

"All things considered we could've been a lot worse. My mom might not be able to fight off a gang of muscular meat-heads like dad or I, but that doesn't mean she wasn't tough." June smirked a bit and turned her head to Toph, "Hell, she had to deal with me every day, and my dad before that. Yet she never once complained about it. She never said once that she'd want dad or I any other way." The bounty hunter looked back to the darkened horizon, her smirk turned into a smile, "I remember one time when I was really young, mom and I had a huge fight. We both screamed at each other, and I ended up saying, 'I bet you'd want me to be just a good little girl, be barefoot and pregnant like a normal girl wouldn't you bitch'?" Toph whipped her head towards June in surprise and sat up in stunned silence. June however, continued to smile as she looked off into the distance, "Needless to say, she slapped me across the face as hard as she could. I was surprised as could be when that happened. I wasn't sure how to react to that. Then…I looked up at mom and saw her crying. She hugged me and told me that she'd love me no matter who I turned out to be. I could end up a good girl, a normal girl, a bad girl, I could end up like my dad or mom, but she'd always love me and call me her daughter no matter what."

Neither woman said a word. June simply smiled as she enjoyed the warm, caring memory of her mother. Toph was in silenced awe of the story, finding a whole new respect for June's mother and the young bounty hunter sitting next to her.

"Wow," the blind Earthbender finally spoke.

"Yeah. After that though, mom and I were close. We still argued all the time, but that's just because people who are so much alike are bound to fight no matter what. Especially if they're family." Toph hummed softly to herself as she thought of her own parents. The blind girl also partially envied June's relationship to her parents. Last time Toph was with hers, they were rendered speechless as their daughter singlehandedly defeated a group of Dai Li Agents. Now she had no idea what they thought of her, or even if they were safe.

Toph turned her head a bit in June's direction, "So aren't you going to ask me about my family?"

June shrugged before she stood up onto her feet, "I figure if you wanted to tell me I wouldn't need to ask." Toph narrowed her eyes as she carefully analyzed June's words.

"So…me asking you about your parents is considered rude?"

"No necessarily _rude_. Just a bit nosey."

"I am _NOT_ nosey! Jeez, now you sound like Man-Boy." June chuckled a bit before helping Toph stand up.

"Usually a stereotype is a stereotype because it's true," the young bounty hunter pointed out.

"Screw you," Toph snapped as she playfully shoved June.

"Oh, so Kegare isn't your type but _I_ am," June jokingly said. "I feel ya now." Toph's pale face immediately burned a bright red, causing June to laugh lightheartedly.

* * *

Morning came, and the sunlight came through the window. The heat and light alone was enough to get Kegare's eyes opened up and out of dream-land. The young man sat up, rubbing his right eye sleepily as he looked over to the other bed. Toph was on the floor, due to the inn actually having no wooden floors, sleeping soundly while the other bed was empty. Kegare got out of his bed and headed towards the lobby.

As soon as he entered the lobby from the halls, June came walking through the doors of the hotel, and held a big bag of coins which she bounced for the sake of hearing the sound of her winnings. June looked up, meeting eyes with Kegare who offered a curious brow in her direction. The young bounty hunter's face was mixed with confusion and surprise. Kegare's eyes traveled to the sack of money, to which June's eyes soon followed. The two moved their eyes back to one another, with June offering a coy grin.

"You really think it's smart to be running around, flaunting a giant bag of money like that?" June let out a huge sigh and brushed the back of her hand over her forehead in unexaggerated relief. Kegare simply raised his brow again.

"I thought you'd be oppose to the whole bounty hunting business," June said as she tied a string around the top of the bag, and secured it to her waist. "What with you being a former Earth Kingdom soldier and all."

"Between Toph and I, we hardly have two pieces of copper to rub together," Kegare stated. "And I dunno what type of work a blind girl and former soldier could get that would pay nearly as well as," the young man pointed to the large sack hanging off of June's hip, "that."

"Well I'm glad to be of service," June said as she held her arms out and took a polite bow.

"Doesn't mean I entirely trust you though," Kegare added as he walked past June and out of the door. The bounty hunter's face fell in disbelief before she whirled around to look at the door.

Kegare moved over the nearest hill so he could try to work in some early morning Earthbending without anyone to see. Behind him, he heard as June violently pushed the doors open and came marching up to him.

"What in Spirit's name do you mean you don't trust me?"

"Just what I said," Kegare answered as he continued walking. "You tricked Toph and I into attacking Earth Kingdom soldiers, who we're trying to avoid, and now because of the blind girl's immediate liking of you, we've got the Fire Nation undoubtedly trying to find us. Plus, you're a bounty hunter, and they're typically not known for their trustworthiness. That is unless you pay the right price for them I suppose."

Kegare's feet were suddenly pulled together and then back, which caused the young man to fall face-first into the dirt. The young man groaned as he hit before he turned to look back over his shoulder. June was holding her whip, which was wrapped around Kegare's ankles.

The young Earthbender slanted his lower jaw a bit as he took in the situation, "…huh."

Kegare rolled onto his back and threw his legs upward. June quickly stepped back and released her whip as a small slab of earth shot up from the ground and threatened to bash her. The bounty hunter scowled as she spun around and kicked the jutting piece of rock, breaking it into dust and pebbles.

Kegare froze for a moment in awe of June's physical strength, "…huh…" The former soldier quickly undid the whip from his ankles and rose up to his feet. June simply crossed her arms, scowling furiously at Kegare. The young man's shoulder slumped as he gave the bounty hunter a look of exasperation. "What do you want from me? I don't trust you, oh big surprise. I'm sure you've dealt with a fair number of people who don't trust you. Why're you making it your life's mission to give me a hard time because _I_ don't trust you?"

June sighed as she started moving forward. Kegare took a cautious step back, eyeing June carefully in case she attacked. The black haired woman simply bent over and picked up her whip before she rolled it up and placed it back on her hip. "Believe it or not, I like you and Toph. Toph because she's very blunt, straightforward, and tough as nails, much like myself. And you because you do your best to keep to yourself and not bother everyone with your own problems."

"So…you like me because I try not to make friends?"

"I didn't say that. You keep a safe distance from other people, and you expect them to do the same. In that aspect, you and I are alike too. You'll tell people about your history, your life, and anything else, but you don't weigh people down with details and keep it so they won't pity you. On the other hand, I can tell by looking into your eyes that you're a nice guy, who would help people in need without a second thought." Kegare turned his head a bit to avoid eye contact. A smirk crept up on June's face as she saw a faint blush on the young man's face. "Am I wrong?"

"No," Kegare muttered bitterly.

"Look, I don't expect us to be best friends right from the get-go, but Toph offered to help me find my family. I didn't ask her, she _offered_ it. Now, I'm not the type of person to turn down free help, so I'm here to stay. And despite the fact you're a capable Earthbender, you know you wouldn't make it long on your own without at least one person there to help you. Whether you like it or not, we're a team now, and we're going to _have_ to trust each other. You holding a grudge against me because I lied and used you is perfectly fine, but if we're going to work together, you gotta trust me okay?"

Kegare sighed and began to rub the back of his neck. June crossed her arms and waited for a response. The young man then turned to face the bounty hunter and looked her in the eye, "You're quite the persuasive talker."

"Is that your way of saying I'm right and you'll agree to trust me," June asked.

The young man shrugged and lowered his arm to his side, "More or less, yeah." June smiled and held out her hand. Kegare looked down and then back up to the bounty hunter before shaking her hand.

"HEY! You two stop making out!" Kegare groaned and rolled his eyes as Toph's voice unnecessarily loud voice faintly echoed around. June smiled and looked back over her shoulder at Toph. "We're leaving so get your crap packed up!"

"What're you jealous little girl," June fired back with a mocking tone.

"Jealous that you're making out with Man-Boy? Hell no! For all I care you two can have hundreds of horribly deformed children!"

"All of which I'm sure would still be able to kick your tiny ass," June shouted as she walked back down the hill towards the inn. At the top of the hill was a baffled Kegare, who was beyond confused at the two women throwing insults back and forth at each other as though it were merely sport. And the fact Toph hadn't threatened, or actually carried out, injuring June was surprising as well.

The young man's face lit up in realization, which soon twisted into an even more horrible discovery, "Oh Spirits…there are two of them now…" Kegare then started to walk reluctantly back to the inn to gather his supplies to move out with the newly formed Team Toph.


	5. Greatest Show on Earth

Toph scowled as she was being led through a large crowd of people, with a wide variety of loud noises going on around her. In front of the blind Earthbender, June held a large stuffed Platypus Bear with one arm, had all manner of cheap jewelry on her fingers and wrists, with a few fire bead necklaces around her neck, and a roll of cotton candy in her spare hand. Kegare, despite earlier objections on hiding out in a Fire Nation colony, also seemed to be enjoying himself at the circus.

While June had been winning prizes at every booth, be it fairly or cheating, Kegare had been enjoying different and new foods specifically from the Fire Nation. Toph had trouble 'seeing' with the hundreds of people walking around in every single direction, while the whistles, cheers, and constant chattering rendered her acute hearing next to useless to help her.

"So where to next," June asked, her gleeful eyes beaming between game booths to sucker out more cheap novelty prizes.

"How about the exit," Toph spoke up, a sour expression on her face while she looked in the direction of her teammates.

"Oh come on Toph. You can't tell me you don't enjoy this? The lights, the air-,"

"The loud and annoying sound of you talking," the blind Earthbender snapped. Kegare simply smirked in his fellow Earthbender's direction.

"I at least gotta see this self proclaimed 'greatest show on earth,' and this prized acrobat they got," June stated, pointing to a nearby poster.

"Oh come on! What fun could there be for me with some girl running around on a tightrope? I can't SEE if she falls and dies!"

"No, but you can feel the splat if she hit the ground," Kegare pointed out. Toph went mute as she pondered Kegare's statement for a moment.

"I'm gonna be mad if she doesn't hit the ground," Toph finally said.

June led the way towards the giant circus tent before someone slammed into her. The young man spun around and fell to the ground, while June stood up straight as if she had just brushed past someone. The hooded boy quickly got up and ran off.

"Well…that was weird," Kegare stated. June's eyes narrowed for a moment. Her body stiffened at a realization, something which Toph noted.

"What's up S-and-S?"

"THAT PUNK STOLE MY WALLET!" The two Earthbenders simultaneously tilted their heads to the side in confusion, wondering how June knew her wallet was gone without even feeling for her pockets. "Hold my stuff!" June tossed her armful of winnings on both Toph and Kegare before racing through the crowd.

"Why do I have to hold this crap," Toph shouted, struggling to keep her balance and everything in hand.

"I'M OLDER THAN YOU BOTH," June shouted from a distance, jumping over a small crowd of people.

* * *

The hooded young man slipped behind a tent on the outskirts of the circus. He panted lightly before opening up the wallet he stole from the young woman earlier. His eyes feasted upon a shining pile of gold and silver pieces, with a few trace copper pieces. "She was loaded," the boy murmured to himself between breaths.

"Yes, I was." The young man spun around, seeing June hunched over the top edge of the tent. The bounty hunter hopped down and landed on her feet. She placed a hand on her hip and gave off an air of unwavering, and well founded, confidence. "Hand over my wallet and I might let you walk away. Otherwise you're going to lose your dignity by getting your butt whupped by a girl."

"Please, it's not like this is your money." June arched a questioning brow as she wordlessly questioned the boy before her. "It's obvious you're not a citizen. No normal citizen carries around a whip and a large number of knives hidden below their clothes."

The bounty hunter lowered her eyes for a moment to her visible whip before mentally praising the boy for noting the hidden knives. June moved her eyes back up to the boy before grabbing her whip, "And normal thieves very rarely carry a pair of broadswords for simple pick-pocketing." The boy huffed before reaching to his waist with his free hand and pulling out a sword from its scabbard. June shrugged casually. "I don't care how I get my money back, so I guess I got time to kill.

The hooded boy charged forward, screaming as he pulled his arm back. June shook her head. She lifted her arm up and blocked the boy's strike at his wrist. June reached to the boy's side and grabbed a handle. The hooded thief jumped back, unsheathing his second sword for his opponent. June smirked cockily before twirling the blade around as if she had wielded it herself for years.

The thief growled before rushing forward again. The boy swung his sword about with precise skill and speed. June however managed to block and parry all of his attacks with seemingly no effort. The bounty hunter's eyes focused on the boy's movements, which allowed her to predict the thief's next move.

June spun the blade around and held it in a reverse grip. She fell to one knee and blocked her opponent's strike. The boy pressed down with all of his might, keeping the wallet held back as far away from June as possible. The bounty hunter grated the swords against each other, and guided the thief's blade into the ground. The boy gasped before June spun around and delivered a powerful kick to his chest. The force of the blow lifted the thief off of his feet and sent him soaring backwards. June then pulled out her whip and lashed it towards the thief. It wrapped around her wallet and relieved the thief of her possession.

The thief hit the ground with a hard thud, his hood falling off of his head to reveal his face. June caught her wallet in her hand while her whip draped on the ground around her feet. The young boy sat up and scowled furiously at June. The boy had shaggy black hair, pale skin, and a pair of ember eyes. June soon noticed a strange, identifying feature on his face. The left side of his face, around his eye socket, had been burned terribly.

June simply kicked the dual swords at the thief, turned around, and walked away. The scarred boy glared angrily at the bounty hunter. Bitter over his defeat, the boy limped over towards his swords and retrieved them. He turned around and walked away as well, accepting his defeat.

June put her wallet back in her pocket and jogged to rejoin Toph and Kegare. She met up with them sooner than expected, as she stood before a wall of her prizes. Without waiting for a greeting, both Earthbenders tossed June her prizes. The bounty hunter swiftly and expertly caught them all in a few short seconds before letting out a small sigh of relief.

"So where's this circus at," Toph asked Kegare casually. The two Earthbenders walked on ahead. Behind them, June fumed in anger as she carried all of her prizes by herself.

* * *

A few burly looking men were angry that June took so many seats for all of her prizes, but they were quickly 'persuaded' by June to find other seats and stay quiet. The bounty hunter crossed her arms as the two men walked away to lick their newfound wounds.

"Explain to me why I followed you two along to watch a show I can't see," Toph bitterly questioned.

Kegare lifted his hand up and then quickly slapped his hand on the seat next to him, "Splat!" Toph grinned mischievously and began rubbing her hands together in anticipation.

"Good evening ladies and gentlemen of the Fire Nation," the ring-leader shouted. "We have a very special show for you all in attendance today! Our experienced, master acrobat, the lovely Ty Lee, will perform amazing feats of gravity defying skills, without a safety net to catch her!" Toph's grin widened, and her hands rubbed together with such vigor that Kegare wondered if they'd combust. The spotlight moved up towards the ceiling, as did everyone's attention. A young woman with brown hair and a large smile on her face waved to the audience below before swinging out forward.

June leaned against the vacant seat behind her with a bored, pouty look on her face. Her eyes traveled all around the circus tent, noting small details about the foundation and the people around her. Nobody of real importance, which meant nobody with bounties on their heads. While it wouldn't be the first time June had taken a bounty on a Fire Nation citizen's head in the middle of Fire Nation occupied territory, she voted against the idea since she didn't want the two Earthbenders with her to get in trouble.

June's eyes twitched a bit before her arm shot down, grabbing a hand that belonged to someone below the seats. Furious that her wallet had almost been stolen twice in one day, June pulled the hand up violently, causing whoever the thief was to bash their head in on the wooden seat.

The force of the victim's crashing with the seat nearly caused both Toph and Kegare to be lifted off of their seats. The two Earthbenders both turned to the bounty hunter who glared angrily at the seats as she dropped her prey.

"Be right back," June told them before slipping down below the audience seats. June landed in front of the thief, who was now on the ground, groaning and rubbing his head in pain. The bounty hunter's eyes widened as she saw the same scarred boy who tried to take her wallet earlier. "You just don't learn do you!" The boy looked up, a look of confusion equally June's just moments earlier.

"What're you doing here?"

"I'm _trying_ to enjoy the show before some pick-pocket tried to take my wallet! AGAIN!"

"I didn't know it was you alright? Trust me I wouldn't have bothered if I knew it was you!"

June started to crack her knuckles as she scowled angrily, "You're not getting off so easily this time. I'm going to teach you a lesson about _not_ stealing people's money while they're trying to enjoy a show!" The thief pulled out his dual swords and prepared to fight. Before he could move though, the earth beneath him reached up and wrapped around both of his feet. Both June and the thief were baffled before the former turned around and saw her Earthbending pair behind her.

"Sheesh, you just have all sorts of fun without us don't you," Kegare asked.

"Earthbenders," the thief muttered.

"The GREATEST Earthbender alive right here punk," Toph corrected, as she furiously pointed at the thief, "And don't you forget it!"

"Thanks guys, but I could've handled this."

"It's never a matter of you being able to handle it or not…we just want you to have all of the fun," Kegare said jokingly.

"And so help me if I miss the acrobat girl falling and going splat on the ground, I'm personally going to pound you _and_ this thief into the dirt!"

"Well that's a first," the former Earth Kingdom soldier muttered, "she's threatened two people and neither of them were me."

The thief's eyes narrowed upon Toph's comment. The boy swung his swords down, cutting the earth that bound his feet to the ground. The trio turned to the thief, all preparing for him to attack. The thief spun around with his swords outstretched, crouching down to the ground as he spun and released a wave of fire from his swords.

Kegare and June's eyes nearly shot out of their heads before the Earthbender lifted up a wall of earth to shield the Team from the fire. The burning element died against the wall of earth, but the rest of the wave went past the trio and caught the wooden seats on fire.

"Crap," the trio snapped in unison. Kegare lowered the wall of earth and saw that the thief was gone.

"Okay, why didn't _you_ tell us we were dealing with a Firebender," Toph asked, pointing at June.

"I didn't know! He never used it the first time he stole my wallet!"

"Ladies, a little less yelling and a little more running?" Team Toph quickly ran towards the exit as the fire grew, and the audience started to scream with fear.

* * *

A few moments later, and the entire tent had been evacuated, the fire had been put out, and the show had been canceled for the night. "I want whoever started that fire in shackles," the ring-leader shouted as a small number of the work staff followed their furious boss. "Get all the Firebenders involved with the show to me now! I'll find out who ruined my show!"

The Team however had sat off on the outskirts of the crowd and tried their best to avoid the eyes of the Fire Nation soldiers that had arrived to help find the pyro who started the fire. Apparently it wasn't the first time the circus had been 'attacked' before. Traveling mostly to Fire Nation colonies in the Earth Kingdom, it was usually target for many of the Earth Kingdom citizens who were forced from their homes.

"Okay, so…leave now before the Fire Nation decides to take us," Kegare asked as he moved his eyes between the two women.

"I feel like we need to find that little pick-pocket and teach him a lesson," June hissed angrily. "Please tell me we're going to find him." Toph crossed her legs and arms, closed her eyes and thought hard to herself. June and Kegare looked over to the blind Earthbender and waited for her tie-breaking vote.

"This is tough…on the one hand I don't feel like fighting my way out of a large number of Fire Nation soldiers again. On the other hand…I can't stomach the thought of siding with Man-Boy." Kegare's face fell in disbelief while June's lit up in unbridled happiness. Toph jumped off of the crate she sat on and pumped her fist in the air when she planted her feet on the ground. "Let's go kick some butt!"

"We found him!"

"LET GO OF ME!" Team Toph turned their heads around, seeing two Fire Nation soldiers pulling a scarred young boy out from hiding.

"Awe man," June muttered in disappointment.

The scarred thief threw his body to the side, pushing one Firebender off balance. He then swung his leg up and kicked the other soldier in the face. The thief then spun around and threw the last soldier on top of his partner.

More soldiers showed up and surrounded the boy. The thief pulled out his swords and scowled at the soldiers around him.

"That's him," the ring-leader asked as he stepped into the circle. "He's much younger than I thought. And uglier, what with that scar on your face." The thief frowned angrily at the smug man. "Turn yourself in before this gets ugly boy."

"Never!" The ring-leader huffed before offering a careless shrug.

"Very well. You gentlemen can kill the bo-,"

"No wait!" The Fire Nation soldiers, ring-leader, thief, and Team Toph all turned their heads, seeing a young girl with brown hair run towards her boss. "What do you think it'll do to the reputation of this circus if you killed a kid like him in front of all these people?" The ring-leader thought about this for a moment before turning his head and he saw just how many people were watching the disturbance. "Just capture him. There's no reason for someone to die right?" The ring-leader smirked before he threw his head back and laughed loudly.

"Ty Lee my dear, you're far too sweet for your own good. Very well, capture the young boy gentlemen! No reason to get the ashes of the dead scattered amongst my honorable show."

The trio narrowed their eyes at the young star acrobat, smelling something fishy about. Toph could feel the girl trembling as she pleaded with the ring-leader. June _knew_ a strong bond when she saw it. Kegare also noted how she cared for some thief that she seemingly had never met before.

The Fire Nation soldiers bended at the boy and advanced, slowly but steadily overpowering him. In less than a minute, the thief had been captured, shackled, and was being dragged towards the main tent.

The ring-leader's smile vanished before he looked down to Ty Lee. The girl had a look of worry in her eyes as they watched the thief get dragged off. The ring-leader grabbed the acrobat forcefully by the arm, causing her to yelp in surprise. Her boss leaned forward, their noses inches apart from one another.

"I know you well enough to tell when you're keeping something from me girl." The ring-leader dragged Ty Lee away, despite the young girl's struggling.

June and Kegare both watched with narrowed eyes. "Well, job well done everyone," Toph exclaimed. "The thief has been captured and there's nothing else to worry about!" Without a response, the bounty hunter and former soldier moved forward to help Ty Lee. Toph sighed, slouching over and embittered by the fact that she was now outvoted.

* * *

The ring-leader stepped into his office/tent and threw Ty Lee into the nearest chair. The young acrobat was held down by two clowns who watched their boss.

"Let me go," Ty Lee shouted.

"Who is that boy! How long have you been sheltering him in _MY_ circus?"

"I-I don't know what you're talking about!"

The ring-leader backhanded Ty Lee across the face, "You're a horrible liar at best Ty Lee! Tell me what I want to know!" The acrobat's eyes stayed averted from the ring-leader, and her mouth was kept shut. The ring-leader huffed bitterly before turning around, "Fine then. I'll just cut him up until he tells me himself."

Ty Lee whirled her head around, "Leave Zuko alone!" The acrobat yelped in fear before pressing her lips together. The ring-leader's entire posture turned rigid as he froze in place. Slowly, the master of the circus turned around with a blank look on his face.

"Zuko…as in…prince Zuko? The Fire Lord's rogue nephew?" Ty Lee stayed silent, not daring to say another word. The ring-leader soon grew a devilish grin across his face as his eyes lit up with malice, "Oh this is a wonderful turn of events! Think of the reward I'll get for turning in the Fire Nation's greatest traitor!"

"He's not a traitor," Ty Lee finally screamed. "You have no idea what he's gone through!"

"Oh I don't care! The Fire Lord himself will praise me and my show! My circus will be the greatest show on the face of the earth!"

"Leave him alone!" The ring-leader spun around and lashed out a fire-whip. The burning whip narrowly missed Ty Lee's head and snapped on the back of the chair, causing the acrobat to yelp in fright.

The ring-leader continued to smile, "I really must thank you for delivering such a prize to me Ty Lee. But you still have to learn some respect…" The ring-leader pulled his arm back, ready to give the acrobat a lashing. Ty Lee closed her eyes tightly and prepared for the searing pain.

"You call that a whip?" The two clowns and the ring-leader both turned their heads before a leather whip wrapped around the ring-leader's wrist. "THIS is a whip!"

June pulled forward on the leather weapon with all her strength, pulling the ring leader off of his feet. The bounty hunter spun around and delivered a well deserved kick to the man's face. The ring-leader cried out in pain and flew back, slamming into one clown. The other looked over in shock before he moved his eyes to Ty Lee. The young acrobat hopped up out of her seat, spun around and slammed the clown onto the hard floor below.

June started to roll up her whip around her arm as Ty Lee looked up at the bounty hunter. "So…the renegade prince Zuko huh?"

"We're _trying_ to do the right thing remember," Kegare murmured as he stepped into sight. "Besides, not giving the father of the guy who used you his renegade nephew is a good thing right?" June turned her head around and gave a confused look to the male Earthbender. Kegare looked back at June with questioning eyes.

"You could've just said this is my way of sticking it to Lu Ten." Kegare shrugged, offering an apologetic smile.

"Who are you guys," Ty Lee asked.

"Name's June, bounty hunter extraordinaire."

"I'm Kegare, draft dodger…not really extraordinaire."

"And I'm Toph," the blind Earthbender shouted as she stepped into the doorway, "the greatest Earthbender alive!"

"Earth Kingdom?"

June raised her hands up to calm the Fire Nation acrobat down, "Whoa girl, hold on. We're here to help you."

"Then you'll help me get Zuko right?"

"Now let's not go that far," June bitterly snapped through her teeth. Ty Lee gave a confused, almost hurt look to the three Earth Kingdom residents. "He tried to steal my wallet…twice…in one night. I'm not exactly too eager to go find him."

"Please, you have to. He only steals money so he can survive."

"So you were sheltering him," Kegare pointed out. Ty Lee nodded as she put her hands together as if she were going to pray. "Why though? You had to know who he was and what hiding him would do."

"I knew who he was and what would happen to me if he were found."

"That didn't matter? You willingly harbored a fugitive of the Fire Nation, a personal target of the Fire Lord himself for what," Toph asked. "And please tell me it wasn't for the cheesy emotion called love…"

"N-no it wasn't. Look, Zuko has been through so much. I was friends with him back when we were children. He just wandered from place to place before he stumbled into the circus." Ty Lee closed her eyes and held her hands to her chest as she remembered finding the young prince that fateful night. "He was starved…driven to the edge of madness because he was run out of every town he went to. He had to steal to survive. I took him in to help him, to keep him from dying. He's been through enough as it is, we can't let the Fire Nation take him back to his uncle!"

The Team fell silent, each thinking about whether or not to help the young girl.

"He stole from me," June repeated. "TWICE!"

"Oh whine about it later Sweet-and-Sour," Toph ordered. "We're helping her." Kegare and June both snapped their heads to Toph in surprise. Ty Lee grinned and squealed in happiness.

Toph smiled and turned around to head off to the main circus tent. June and Kegare turned around as Ty Lee walked outside. The three of them all gapped as they saw the main tent behind them up in flames.

"Toph," June shouted, "the tent's burning down!" Toph skidded to a halt and noticed the painstakingly obvious amount of heat coming from in front of her.

"No, Zuko!" Ty Lee ran forward with June and Kegare quickly following behind her. Toph looked confused as she felt the three of them run past her before she chased after them.

A few Fire Nation soldiers and circus staff stumbled out of the burning tent, covered in soot and coughing out smoke. "That damn brat," one soldier coughed.

"What happened," Ty Lee asked him.

"The thief is a Firebender! He started a huge fire and then ran away to leave the rest of us to die!" Ty Lee smiled and let out a small sigh of relief.

"Awesome, great, can we go now," Toph questioned rather hurriedly.

"STOP THEM! They're sheltering the rogue prince Zuko!" All heads snapped around to see the circus master stumbled out of his quarters.

Ty Lee quickly kicked the Fire Nation soldier in the stomach and turned to the trio behind her, "RUN!" Kegare and Toph both lifted a wall of earth between them and the Firebenders who immediately shot at them.

June and Ty Lee headed towards the nearest opening of land, which was blocked by the circus trainer, four clowns, and the ring-leader himself. June swung her whip forward, wrapping it entirely around one clown's entire body. She pulled forward on the whip and then sprung into the air. June slammed her foot into the clown's stomach and slammed him onto the ground. Ty Lee cart wheeled forward and landed between two other clowns. One swung his fist at the acrobat, which she nimbly dodged and countered with four quick, lightning fast jabs all over his side. The clown groaned softly and fell to the ground completely paralyzed. Ty Lee then turned around and did the splits under the second clown's punch. She did the same lightning fast jabbing process from the man's stomach all the way up to his neck before he doubled back and fell unconscious.

The circus trainer lashed a fire whip at Ty Lee from behind, catching the acrobat by surprise. The flaming whip was cut short when June's whip cut through the fire. The man scowled at the smirking bounty hunter before the ground beneath him opened up. The man screamed as he fell into a hole, which immediately closed in around his neck. Kegare ran up and then lightly kicked the man in the side of the head before running towards his escape.

Toph shot a pillar of earth beneath her feet up to propel herself forward. She moved her arms in front of her face as she slammed into the last clown's stomach and rolled over his unconscious body, squaring off with the circus master.

The older Firebender screamed as he lashed his fire whip at the blind girl. Toph rolled to the side, making sure to keep either her hands or feet touching the ground so she could 'see.' On all fours, Toph quickly shot her arms up with her hands hanging down before she twisted them up and jutted her hands forward. A massive pillar of earth shot out from under the man and sent him flying through the air. Toph turned her head and cupped a hand over her ear as she listen to the ring-leader screaming as he sailed through the air. She lowered her head to match the man's screaming before the circus master slammed into the ground with a forceful, painful impact.

"YES! I got my splat!"

"Come on you sadist," Kegare snapped as he grabbed Toph's arm and yanked her in the right direction.

The rest of the circus staff as well as Fire Nation soldiers came chasing after them. June reached into her belt, pulling out a handful of small balls. She jumped into the air, spun around, and threw them all at the ground. Each tiny bomb erupted in a blinding flash of light, which caused their pursuers to become temporarily blind.

"Great," Kegare exclaimed, "Fugitives from the Earth Kingdom AND the Fire Nation! I swear, this 'Team' is cursed!"

"Hey, at least there's never a dull moment," Toph pointed out with an excited tone. Kegare narrowed his eyes at the blind Earthbender.

"You're enjoying this…"

"Hey, I got to feel someone go splat on the ground! I'm happy!"

"But we lost Zuko, and he's out there alone now," Ty Lee stated with a saddened tone.

"Hey, I'm not the best bounty hunter ever for nothing! I should be able to track him."

"REALLY?"

"Absolutely. We'll find you're hot-headed boyfriend." Ty Lee blushed and frowned at the now grinning bounty hunter.

"He is _NOT_ my boyfriend!"

"Jeez, now you're sounding like Toph here," June said as her eyes shifted over to the blind Earthbender.

"So help me, you call Man-Boy my boyfriend ONE more time and I'm going to drop you June!" Kegare meanwhile stared at the three girls running ahead of him.

'_Three girls, and the only one that could be considered normal has a thing for a renegade prince. Maybe _I'M_ cursed.'_

"Hey, get your head in the game Man-Boy," Toph snapped. "We got a lotta distance to put between us and them!"

"Yeah, yeah, keep your pants on, PLEASE." June and Ty Lee both giggled a bit at how much Kegare over exaggerated the last word.

"Trust me, you'd like what you'd see if my pants weren't on!"

"You can't see to begin with! How do you know if I'd like it?"

Toph blushed furiously before turning her head around at her fellow Earthbender, "Cause I said so alright!"

"They make a cute couple," Ty Lee whispered to June.

"That's what I said," the bounty hunter whispered back.

* * *

A few hours after the commotion had settled, every inch of every booth and tent was being examined by a group of Fire Nation soldiers who had just arrived. The circus master approached the commander in charge.

"C-commander Zhao, to what do I owe this prestigious honor?"

"One of the soldiers stationed here told me about the chaos caused by the rogue prince." Zhao moved his eyes towards the cowering circus master. "Apparently, your circus was sheltering him."

"N-no my lord! It was Ty Lee! She was hiding the boy from everyone in the circus! I had no idea that he was here." Zhao hummed quietly to himself before moving his eyes back forward. The ring-leader carefully observed the commander, wondering what he was thinking.

One Fire Nation soldier approached Zhao and saluted him, "Sir, we've searched every inch of this place, but we've found no sign of Zuko."

Zhao scowled a bit, his nostrils flaring in anger, "Very well…"

"Also, a few of the soldiers stationed here claim that the acrobat girl had some help escaping from a pair of Earthbenders, and a young woman in all black carrying a whip." Zhao's eyes brightened up a bit with this bit of news. The commander wondered for a moment if it could be the same group that gave Lu Ten so much trouble.

"If I could capture the rogue prince…as well as those three…"

"S-sir…?"

Zhao looked up at the soldier, "You're dismissed. Gather every last soldier here, included those stationed to protect this circus. We're heading towards the Si Wong Desert." The soldier nodded then turned around to gather the troops.

"A-all the Firebenders? But what about the circus? We'd be defenseless without your soldiers!"

"Your circus was harboring a known fugitive of the Fire Nation," Zhao stated without turning towards the ring-leader of the circus. "You should be grateful I don't burn you down where you stand. You and your people will be sent back to the Fire Nation, where your fate will be determined by the Fire Lord himself."

"B-but I tried to capture the rogue Zuko!"

"The Fire Lord will decide your fate." Zhao turned around and began to walk away from the circus master, who fell to his knees in grief. Zhao meanwhile, had his sights set on something higher. Capturing Zuko, and dealing with the three Earth Kingdom commoners who disgraced Lu Ten in battle would bring the commander an immense prestigious honor. Not only that, but whatever information the Spirit Library would hold could give the Fire Nation an immense victory against both the Earth Kingdom and the Waterbenders who harassed them.

Zhao smirked as he planned for his future victories.


	6. Awkward Bonding Moments

After a day of nonstop running, Team Toph with the addition of Ty Lee stopped at a Fire Nation colony that was on the fringes of Fire Nation territory. Thankfully, June had a few connections in the rather large colony, and they managed to sneak the four fugitives into a hotel without the Fire Nation noticing.

"Have I mentioned how happy I am that we added you to the Team," Toph asked as she fell back into a chair.

"I'm sure you are," June replied, not really paying that much attention. "Only two beds? Really?"

"Anything larger in a hotel like this would be a bit suspicious don't you think," Kegare asked. June shrugged in acknowledgement as Ty Lee jumped flat on the other bed.

"It's so soft!"

"So it's decided: Earthbenders sleep on the floor," June proclaimed.

"What?"

"Works for me."

Kegare snapped his head around at Toph, "You're only saying that to vote against me again!" The blind Earthbender grinned mischievously, confirming the former soldier's accusation. "Why don't I get a bed?"

"Girl," June stated pointing to herself. The bounty hunter's finger then moved to Ty Lee, who looked over and smiled with a curious gaze in her eyes, "Girl."

"Doesn't chivalry go out the window when one of the girls can whup my butt?"

"If you'd rather fight for the bed-,"

"Forget it!" June smiled in satisfaction as she crossed her arms.

"Thanks for being so understanding Kegare," Ty Lee said.

"It's alright Ty Lee," the Earthbender replied in defeat. The boy turned his head and muttered under his breath, "At least someone thanks me for my sacrifices on this team."

"Quit whining," Toph snapped.

June groaned in disgust as she slowly pulled something out of her hair. A decent sized beetle moved its legs about, trying to get away before June flicked it at the nearest window. "Why couldn't it have just flown down my throat? I don't wanna know how many more of those things are in my hair."

"That's why I like to have mine braided," Ty Lee said as she sat up in her bed. "That and it doesn't get in my face when I'm standing on my fingers when I'm upside down on the balancing rope or when I'm fighting."

"I don't mind it when I'm fighting, but I didn't think bugs would make a home for themselves after we ran however many miles away from that damn circus."

Kegare quickly reached back and started combing his fingers through his ponytail to make sure there weren't any unwanted guests in his hair as well. "Maybe we should all take a shower," Ty Lee suggested. "Just to be safe. Then I can make double check to make sure that you guys got everything out."

"Yeah, but the only problem is this hotel isn't exactly extravagant," June said. "They have a timer on the showers. You only get about five minutes before the water turns off, and there's at least thirty minutes between each shower. That's two hours and twenty minutes I don't feel like wasting."

"Then you'll go first," Kegare suggested.

"I was thinking of pairing up," June replied. "Ty Lee and I, you and Toph."

"WAIT—WHAT! WHY?" June leaned back a bit as both Earthbenders shouted the exact same thing at her for the umpteenth time since she's been on the Team.

"Toph is blind. She can't see any of your 'goods' Kegare." Both Earthbenders blushed and widened their eyes in outrage at the bounty hunter.

"I don't need to take a shower thank you very much! I like being covered in dirt and filth!"

"Yeah, well you don't exactly scream peasant. Your skin is too pale and fair looking, your hands, while tough, aren't blistered or rough with manual labor. So an average looking girl, covered in dirt and filth. Kinda seems like an Earthbender profile if I were an observant Fire Nation soldier."

"Well good for us none of those exist!"

"You're taking a shower," June ordered. Toph scowled, the blush on her face darkening.

"Well why does it have to be with Man-Boy! Can't all the girls take a shower together?"

"Three people in one small, cheap shower? Doesn't seem like it'd be productive."

"Can't I find a river or something," Kegare questioned.

"Yeah, so I can hold his head under water and wait for the bubbles to stop," Toph added.

"Hey, I'm not the one who suggested this!" Kegare blinked a few times as he observed Toph's face. "And why are you blushing!"

"Cause it's embarrassing you idiot!"

"Has nothing to do with the fact she likes you," June murmured smugly.

"Shut up June," Toph and Kegare shouted together. The bounty hunter's smirk grew with satisfaction.

'_Can't put a price on how easily annoyed they get,'_June thought to herself.

"Can I make a suggestion," Ty Lee asked. The three Earth Kingdom residents turned their heads to the young acrobat. "Why is Kegare going to the river a bad idea?"

"Because if by the off chance the Fire Nation catches up with us or follows our trail, he won't be able to fend of a legion of Firebenders by himself," June stated.

"Then why doesn't someone go with him," Ty Lee suggested.

"I'm NOT going with him," Toph protested loudly.

"You don't have to. I'll go with him." Kegare raised a questioning brow as his cheeks reddened worse than before. "If you're okay with that?" Ty Lee's face became stern as she held out her finger, "And you gotta promise you won't spy on me."

"O-okay," Kegare stammered.

"Well…I dunno. Toph's ability to feel vibrations through her feet would be useful for lookout while Kegare is cleaning himself," June pointed out.

"No, no, no, NO!" June laughed at Toph's flustered protests.

"I'm kidding! Calm down. Ty Lee, you and Kegare by all means go to the nearest river if you really want to." Ty Lee smiled and nodded before hopping off of the bed.

"I've gotta get some stuff though from the market, like soaps and shampoo. Spare some money?" June reached for her wallet and pulled out eight copper pieces, four silver pieces, and one gold piece and tossed them to Ty Lee. "Thanks June! Come on Kegare."

The young Earthbender groaned as he sulked forward, completely embarrassed by this whole idea. "I think I am cursed…"

June smirked when she heard that and closed the door behind them, "Alright so-,"

"Why'd you let them go off like that," Toph demanded.

"Beg pardon?"

"You left Man-Boy alone with some Fire Nation hoochie! How do we know she's not a spy who'll kill him with his pants down?" June's face twisted as she tried her best not to laugh. After a few seconds, and a few weak, stifled laughs, she gave in and exploded with amusement. Toph narrowed her blind eyes and put her hands on her hip while June continued to laugh at her 'legitimate' reasoning.

"You're joking right? If you're that jealous than just go after him and trade Ty Lee places."

"I'm not jealous," Toph swiftly snapped, her cheeks becoming a faint shade of pink.

"Or would you rather me go trade Kegare places so you two can have some 'alone' time?" June grinned, knowing she plucked the right strings as the blind girl became more embarrassed. Toph huffed and turned her head away, closing her eyes and hoping her bangs covered her blush.

"I don't care either way. I just don't want to lose my punching bag."

"You're so adorable," June muttered smugly. "Come on girl, strip down and get wet." Toph's blush spread faster as she stomped her foot on the ground and gave an upset look at June. The bounty hunter grinned as she removed her arm covers and dropped them on the bed.

"You're heading straight for beat-down central you know that?"

"Love you too Toph," June said jokingly.

* * *

Kegare wondered to himself how his face hadn't self combusted at this point from all of the blushing. Ty Lee's bright smile never wavered for a bit as she bought a few soaps, conditioners, and shampoos. Kegare however, couldn't keep eye contact with any living creature he happened to pass. The two headed out of town towards a nearby river which was hidden by trees thankfully.

The Earthbender looked everywhere to make sure there wasn't anything with eyes around except him or Ty Lee. He wished that even the latter wasn't here right now. The acrobat turned around on her heels and smiled at Kegare, making him even more nervous than before.

"Alright, you can go on the other side of the river and get ready. I'll set out all of this for you, kay?"

"A-alright..." Kegare slowly made his way though the river and quickly scampered behind some bushes. Ty Lee hummed merrily to herself as she started to lie everything out on a small rock next to the river.

The acrobat smiled as she gave a nod of approval to herself before moving towards the nearest tree. She got on the other side of the tree and sat down, looking out in the direction of the town. "You can come out whenever you're ready now. I'm not looking." Ty Lee's response was a quick splash, causing her to giggle a bit. "Is it really that big of a deal?"

"Well yeah! I don't mind a little dirt, but I haven't been naked out in the open like this before! Isn't it against the law or something?"

"Public nudity? Yeah, a little bit I think."

"A little bit," Kegare repeated as he started to scrub his side vigorously. "How is something a 'little bit' against the law?"

"Just bathe," Ty Lee playfully replied. Kegare muttered to himself before he started to quickly clean himself before anyone showed up. Ty Lee lifted her leg up in the air and fastened her shoe to her foot. "So how long have you been a draft dodger?"

The Earthbender shifted his eyes towards Ty Lee, blushing slightly at the thought of making small-talk while he was naked and shampooing his hair. "Technically I guess I'm not a draft dodger in the typical sense. I'm more of a fugitive from Long Feng and the Earth Kingdom."

"How come?"

"It's a very long story and I feel kinda awkward talking about it while I'm naked," Kegare stated quickly. Ty Lee giggled before lowering her leg back on the ground.

"Sorry about that. I just want to get to know everyone a little better is all. I mean you all offered to help me, and all you knew was that I'm from the Fire Nation and I _was_ apart of the circus."

"Yeah, we seem to pick up a lotta strays on this haphazard 'Team.' Uh…no offence."

"None taken," Ty Lee replied with the smile on her tone still evident. "I'll just take your history as 'I've got one and I don't like to talk about it,' kay?"

"Sheesh, the way you and June make it sound I'd think I have a stick up my butt," Kegare muttered with a pout.

"It's not a bad thing to keep to yourself I guess." The acrobat pulled her legs up and hugged her knees to her chest. "I mean it took forever for Zuko to tell me everything that'd happened. I already knew most of what happened, but I wanted him to trust me enough to tell me, ya know?"

Kegare looked down at the water, seeing his own reflection staring back at him, "Trust huh…"

Ty Lee looked up at the sky and sighed thoughtfully before whispering to herself, "I wonder where he is now?"

The Earthbender blinked himself back to reality before he dunked his head into the water to scrub the shampoo out. Kegare threw his head back, watering flying out from his wet strands of hair. The former soldier took a small breath of air before looking off to the side to make sure Ty Lee wasn't looking.

"Alright, I guess I'm done," Kegare said cautiously.

Ty Lee reached to her right and blindly tossed a towel towards the river. Kegare quickly shifted his stance, bringing up a chunk of rock which propelled the towel towards him. He quickly jumped out of the water, grabbed the towel in mid-air and wrapped it around his waist. The former soldier landed on his feet and secured the towel around his waist.

"Whew…okay, I'm decent now."

"My eyes won't erupt in flames if they catch something they're not supposed to will they," Ty Lee asked mockingly.

"Oh, ha-ha, you've got me in stitches over here," Kegare replied as he grabbed his shirt. Ty Lee giggled before she stepped out from behind the tree and took off her shoes.

"Oh-ow-ow, these rocks are hard and rigid." Kegare turned his head as he saw Ty Lee bouncing from one foot to another.

"Heads up!" The Earthbender motioned his entire body down, sending a small wave of earth across the river. Ty Lee sprung into the air and wrapped her legs around a tree branch above her. The earth ran over the rock and smoothed the top out for Ty Lee. The acrobat fell from the tree and landed firmly on her feet.

"Much better," she proclaimed.

"Sorry, I kinda forgot you weren't an Earthbender." Ty Lee sat down on the edge of the rock and rested her toes in the water.

"It's alright." Ty Lee started to kick her feet back and forth gently in the water, looking down with a smile at the ripples. "So you and Toph really aren't an item?" Kegare visibly twitched in irritation before he whirled around, and pulled his arm through the sleeve of his shirt.

"NO! Why does everyone think that? Just cause we're both the only Earthbenders of the group?"

Ty Lee giggled a bit more before leaning back, "No silly. It's cause you two always seem to be thinking the same thing, or at least know what the other is thinking." Kegare narrowed his eyes, pouting a bit in defeat as a blush worked its way on his face. Ty Lee tilted her head to the side a bit, gazing off into the sky. "She speaks her mind whenever she wants, and you're a bit more reserved. Opposites attract you know."

"So that's why you've got a thing for the hot-headed thief-prince?" Ty Lee sat up angrily, balling up her fists as a blush came over her face too.

"I don't have a thing for Zuko!" Kegare grinned and chuckled cruelly. Ty Lee caught onto the Earthbender's tactic and quickly turned her head, crossed her arms, and huffed. Kegare stepped behind a tree to put his pants on. "Sorry…" The Earthbender froze in his place before snapping his head out into the open, giving a puzzled stare at Ty Lee. "What…?"

"That's…not a word I haven't heard in a long time. Kinda weird I guess…" Kegare moved back behind the tree and finished fastening his pants.

"Well…I feel like June would be the type of person to apologize for a mistake she's made. But harmless fun…well she seems like the type of person to just keep going with it." Kegare hummed softly to himself before he leaned back against the tree.

"What about Toph? You think she's the type of person to apologize for anything?"

"If she thinks she's made a big mistake, then yes. But she has to think it. Not you or anyone else telling her she's made a mistake."

"Yeah, right," Kegare stepped out into the open with his hands on his hips, "like she'd admit she's make a mistake. Her head is so big I'm surprised she hasn't beaten me with it yet."

"You'd be surprised," Ty Lee replied, her face hardening a bit. "Her aura wasn't one of complete self-confidence." Kegare blinked a few times as he stared blankly into space before turning his head to stare blankly at Ty Lee. "What?"

"You said 'her aura?' What's that mean?"

"I can feel people's auras when I'm close to them," Ty Lee explained. "She tries to exert an air of confidence and self-assurance, but that's just to put up a front." Kegare sat down on the edge of the river across from Ty Lee, listening to what the young acrobat. "I mean she is a great Earthbender, and to have gone this far by yourself when you're blind is an impressive feat. Think about how many people she's had to lie to and use as a draft dodger. After awhile, lying and putting up some type of well crafted façade becomes second nature. June probably noticed that about Toph too, but just chose not to confront her about it. Toph just acts the way she acts to hide the fact that she's actually self-conscious about her impaired sight."

"She…really…?"

"That's what I've picked up at least," Ty Lee answered truthfully with a shrug. "I'm sure June would probably think the same thing. I bet she's really good at reading people."

"Okay so…what kinds of aura do June and I give off?" Kegare asked the question slowly, almost reluctant to have his 'aura' read.

"June exerts a lot of self-confidence, but it's not to hide anything," Ty Lee said with a smile forming on her face. "She knows she's tough, but she also knows she's not invincible. She's cautious, always ready for the bad-guys to jump out of the walls and surround her. Probably because she's been in that situation a couple of times." Ty Lee giggled while Kegare smirked and huffed. "But she also has this…special attitude I don't see a lot of. Has she been with you and Toph a long time?"

"Less than a week," Kegare replied. "But Toph offered to help June find her parents since we weren't on some special quest to save the world, and we were already on the run from the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom regardless."

"That's it then," Ty Lee exclaimed happily as she snapped her fingers. Kegare tilted his head to the side. "She kind of sees herself as your and Toph's guardian in a way. She's older and she's probably done more than her fair share of dirty jobs as a bounty hunter. When it comes down to it, she has more experience in the ways of the world than you, Toph, and I put together. She doesn't think of herself as your guys' mother, but she definitely sees you and Toph as people she wants to protect, because you're her friends."

"Wait, really?" Ty Lee smiled and nodded, causing her braid bouncing up and down. "So…what type of aura do you pick up from me?"

"You're…a nice guy. Kind of conflicted about something…lots of things actually. Your aura is all over the place to be honest. It kinda reminds me of Zuko's." Ty Lee giggled a bit and rubbed her arm in embarrassment. Kegare offered a smile to Ty Lee. "Auras like your guy's is hard to read sometimes."

"Sorry about that," Kegare apologized.

"I do know you're really embarrassed about having taken a bath in such close proximity to me though." Kegare's cheeks burned red, causing Ty Lee to giggle again. The acrobat sprung up to her feet and pumped her fist in the air, "Alright, time to head back."

"Wait, you're not going to take a bath?" Ty Lee spun around, a very stern look on her face as she put her fists on her hips.

"You just wanna spy on me don't you, you pervert?" Kegare nearly fell over in complete shock, but quickly caught himself. Rendered flustered and completely embarrassed, Kegare started stammering hysterically to try and come up with some type of excuse to prevent Ty Lee from paralyzing him and leaving his sorry butt by the river. A smile soon crossed Ty Lee's face as she leaned back and laughed, "I'm only joking." Once again, Kegare nearly fell over in disbelief. "I figure by the time we get to hotel, Toph and June will be done showering, I can do everyone's hair, and then it'll be my turn to shower."

"So…I'm going to be the only one who bathes in the river like an animal?"

"Sorry," Ty Lee playfully stated. Kegare wasn't sure how to feel about that sorry, since she didn't sound it.

* * *

Back at the hotel, Ty Lee was the first to enter the room, "We're back!"

"How was the bath," June asked as she sat on the edge of the bed to clip her toenails.

"Not too great," Kegare murmured.

"Probably because you didn't see anything Man-Boy," Toph muttered.

"Excuse me what? Your insult was rather quiet for your usual abusive behavior." Toph glared her unfocused gaze ahead. Kegare narrowed his eyes skeptically. "Okay…you're surprisingly…passive."

"She's just embarrassed," June said.

"Shut up Sweet 'n Sour!"

"Why's she embarrassed," Ty Lee asked.

"She slipped and I caught her," June replied simply as she clipped another toenail. "And her face fell right into my boobs."

"Oh my," Ty Lee whispered, covering her uncontainable smile with her hands.

"Oh this is too rich," Kegare said with a sinister edge in his tone.

"I can make you shut up you know," Toph threatened. "Just say the word and I will _bury_ you underground Man-Boy." Kegare merely chuckled as Toph's blush spread across her whole face. Ty Lee tried her hardest to suppress her laughter into stifled giggles. June merely smiled and moved her eyes to the others before looking over her shoulder to Toph. "Screw you guys, I'm going to bed!" Toph jumped down off of the bed and lied down on the ground.

"You almost got to screw me," June whispered to herself. Toph swung her arm back and hit the bed behind her. Whether from sheer strength of Earthbending nobody knew, but the bed slid across the room and slammed into June's bed, nearly throwing the bounty hunter onto the ground. June simply glared back over her shoulder, "Okay, throw a little hissy fit then."

"I'm NOT throwing a hissy fit!"

Kegare, who was a bit worried, leaned back to Ty Lee who was a bit frightened, "What's her aura like now?"

"Mad..." Ty Lee replied.

* * *

As it started to get late, the Team started to head to bed. Ty Lee took a shower before jumping into the bed which was practically now adjoined to June's bed. Kegare lied on the ground. He made sure to stay out of Toph's striking distance for safety's sake.

Kegare was woken up in the middle of the night when he heard the door close. The groggy Earthbender looked over to the side to see that Toph was gone. Kegare groaned as he gently bonked his head on the floor. The former soldier got up and quietly followed after the Team captain.

Out in the lobby, Kegare found Toph sitting by herself at a table with her toes touching the ground. He knew by this point Toph had to know that he was there. "Can't sleep?"

"Not really," Toph answered. Kegare walked up to the table and sat across from his blind companion. "What about you? I didn't wake you up did I?"

"My, was that a sign of concern," Kegare mockingly asked. Toph smirked a bit before swinging blind at her partner.

"Smart-ass. But seriously, I didn't did I?"

"Maybe a little," Kegare answered truthfully.

"Sorry." Kegare was once again rendered dumbstruck by hearing that word.

"Seriously, is today opposite day or something? All the girls of the world be nice to Kegare for a day?"

"You complaining?"

"Not at all," Kegare answered. "I like this change of pace." Toph stuck her tongue out at her fellow Earthbender who returned the favor, though he knew she couldn't see it. "So…aside from the accident, how was your shower?"

"I hated it! I'd much rather have a nice, light, healthy coating of earth around me instead of this 'clean' crap everyone goes on about."

"Yeah, basic hygiene is so overrated," Kegare sarcastically agreed.

"Another thing? Don't EVER bring up the 'accident' again, got it?"

"My lips are sealed," Kegare assured her.

"I mean if I knew I was going to fall in the stupid shower, I'd much rather have taken one with you!" Toph caught herself and immediately pressed her lips shut, and Kegare incidentally did the same. Heat started to rush to their faces as they looked away from each other in awkwardness. "I-I mean just so I wouldn't be face first in another girl's boobs is the only reason I'd want to take a shower with you," Toph quickly defended to 'save' herself.

"Well yeah," Kegare agreed with an uncomfortable chuckle.

"Then again, knowing you, you'd 'fall' just to get your face in some girl's boobs wouldn't you Man-Boy?"

"N-no you pervert!"

"I'm the pervert? You're the one thinking about falling into girl's bosoms!"

"And you're the one who actually did it," Kegare stated with a heavy dosage of smug in his tone. Toph blushed furiously and glared her unfocused eyes on her partner. Using her Earthbending, Toph pulled Kegare's chair forward violently, causing her fellow Earthbender's face to smack hard into the table. Kegare groaned in pain as Toph pushed the chair back away from the table.

"You said you wouldn't bring up the accident," Toph pointed out.

"My bad," Kegare replied as he rubbed his now throbbing face. Toph got out of her chair and walked next to Kegare.

"Need help getting back to the room?"

"No I'm good…whenever I find out which of the three of you is you." Toph rolled her eyes and smiled before she helped Kegare out of his seat.

"Sorry about smashing your face in," Toph apologized.

"Thanks for caring enough to apologize…I think…" Toph smiled as she and Kegare continued down the halls back to their room.

* * *

**Ahh, filler. Can't you just smell the filling goodness? Filler-rific. Okay, enough with the beating you over the head with the fact this chapter is very obviously filler.**

**Sorry for the Team not finding Zuko this chapter guys, but I got this idea in my head of all sorts of awkward situations, and ran with it. So you get Man-Boy bathing a few feet away from Ty Lee, and Toph falling into June's bobs (yes, I called them bobs). Awkward central! Next chapter should be less awkward…and less filler.**


	7. Captured

Toph, Kegare, and Ty Lee sat around in a small clearing in the forest while June went to scope out a lead as to where Zuko could be. The bounty hunter had been gone for nearly an hour, and the trio of misfits was bored out of their minds.

"Finally," Toph exclaimed. Kegare looked to the right while Ty Lee looked over at Toph, puzzled. June stepped out of the bushes, much to Ty Lee's surprise.

"Good news or bad news," the bounty hunter asked.

"Good news," Kegare immediately requested.

"Good news is, I think Zuko is in the town ahead." Ty Lee grinned happily, clapping her hands in excitement.

"Bad news," Toph asked.

"Bad news is…the city is currently occupied by the Fire Nation." The trio all groaned in unison. June leaned her back against the nearest tree and turned her head, "I'm not exactly sure how the hot-headed prince managed to sneak in though, or why the Fire Nation is even here in such force for that matter."

"What do you mean by force," Ty Lee cautiously asked.

"I mean there's a butt-load of Fire Nation soldiers in the town ahead. It's weird though. This place doesn't really have any strategic value, or anything of value nearby for the Fire Nation to mine for resources."

"There might be a group of them just passing through," Kegare suggested. "It's not uncommon for the Fire Nation regiment to rest up in a town and then continue onto wherever they're going."

"Or to follow whoever they're pursuing," Toph murmured grimly. Ty Lee gasped softly and then stood up quickly.

"You think they're after Zuko?"

"That's a possibility," June admitted. "Although we might just be over thinking things, and Kegare could be right."

"But if he's not…and they're after Zuko, then we have to help him!"

"And the best way to help him isn't to just rush into the town and start a big fight," Kegare stated firmly. "There are innocent people in that village that we don't want to get caught in the crossfire."

"Right, but on the same token we can't run the risk of Lu Ten being the monkey leading this clowns," June added. "If he is, we'll be discovered in a heartbeat."

"Then let me scout ahead," Ty Lee pleaded. "This Lu Ten doesn't know me."

"No, but if they are searching for Zuko, they'll be keeping an eye out for you," June pointed out. Ty Lee scowled in defeat and huffed bitterly. "I know you want to help Zuko sweetheart, but you've gotta think this through."

"You guys do know there's a simple solution right," Toph questioned. The rest of the group gave confused, questioning looks to the Team captain.

* * *

"I hardly think this is the 'simple' solution," Kegare angrily shouted. At the Team's feet were two unconscious Fire Nation soldiers, completely stripped of their armor and tied with their arms and legs behind their backs.

"It's a very easy solution," Toph said matter-of-factly. "You and June disguised as Fire Nation soldiers take Ty Lee and I into custody, so we can look for Sparky in jail, while you two can walk around in the city."

"I don't know why I'm dressing up as a guy," June muttered in annoyance as she eyed her new disguise.

"I don't know why I had to lure the guards over here by being so flirty," Ty Lee added in a pouty tone.

"You ever heard of a little something called 'variables?' They're unsuspecting factors that like to show up and kick you in the teeth when you're least expecting it!"

"Quit whining and get dressed ya big baby," Toph ordered.

"I hate you some days you know that," Kegare seethed bitterly.

"The feeling is mutual." Kegare growled angrily before he put the helmet on over his head.

Toph and Ty Lee were being escorted in shackles through the town. June kept her eyes narrowed and cautious while Kegare counted the seconds until they were discovered and attacked.

"This way," June whispered. "I've turned in a couple of bounties in this town before. I'd guess the Fire Nation would hold prisoners in the same area." Kegare nodded then followed the bounty hunter with Toph and Ty Lee in tow. To his surprise, Kegare noticed that nobody from the Fire Nation seemed to be paying them any attention. It probably helped that both his and June's faces were hidden behind helmets. "You may have to do the talking," June told Kegare. "I don't know many female soldiers in the Fire Nation army."

"No problem," Kegare replied. The two 'soldiers' turned and walked down a shortcut in the form of an alleyway.

June pushed open the door to the bounty station once they arrived, and let the 'prisoners' enter first. The room was filled with several Fire Nation soldiers. The one at the front desk looked up from scribbling on a few papers with a puzzled look on his face.

"What in the name of Agni are you doing with those people," the man asked.

"The small, pale, pasty blind girl is an Earthbender sir, we caught her outside of town."

"Pasty," Toph repeated with a bit of a venomous edge on her tone. Despite being blind and the fact Kegare wore a helmet, Toph _knew_ he had a grin plastered on his face.

"And the ditzy looking one?"

"Ditzy," Ty Lee hissed, only to be nudged gently by June to pipe down.

"We saw her with the Earthbender, and they were mentioning something about the rogue Prince Zuko sir." All bodies stiffened in the room, and a few faint gasps were heard. Kegare once again started counting the seconds.

"Take them to the prison," the man ordered as he handed June and Kegare the keys. "And report to Commander Zhao immediately. He'll want to hear of this."

"Yes sir," Kegare took the keys then handed them to June. "I'll speak with Zhao at once."

"_Commander_ Zhao," the man corrected.

"Sorry sir." Kegare headed back to the door while June moved Toph and Ty Lee towards the jail cells.

The cells were all completely empty as the girls entered. June opened the nearest cell door and allowed Ty Lee and Toph to enter. As soon as the bounty hunter closed the door and locked it, Toph growled in anger.

"PASTY! Who does he think he is calling me pasty?"

"He just said it to get under your skin," June replied as she adjusted her helmet. "You do it all the time, and the fact you're upset means he won this round. What is it now, Kegare four, Toph six? He's catching up."

"Shut up," Toph snapped angrily. "He's SO gonna get it for this!"

"Keep it down Toph," Ty Lee softly urged. "We don't want the other soldiers to catch on." The blind Earthbender crossed her arms and angrily huffed. June leaned back against the wall next to the cell bars and crossed her arms.

"I'm wondering why Kegare went to talk to Zhao so willingly," June asked herself. "He's one of the most powerful individuals in the Fire Nation isn't he?"

Ty Lee nodded in confirmation, "Zhao was born into a noble family who were close to the former Fire Lord Azulon. He became interested in the War and joined the army at a young age. He quickly moved up the ranks, and has become one of Fire Lord Iroh's favorite commanders. They say his successes and victories in the War come second only to Prince Lu Ten." June scowled under her helmet at that name, clutching her arm tightly.

"What's he thinking going off on his own," June whispered to herself.

Toph's unfocused gaze softened at the ground, "I hope you know what you're doing Man-Boy…"

* * *

Kegare was allowed to meet Commander Zhao immediately by simply mentioning the name 'Zuko.' The guards escorted him to the door of Zhao's private office before entering to tell their commanding officer what was going on. After a few seconds, the soldiers stepped outside and allowed Kegare to enter by himself.

The only lights in the room were a few sparsely lit torches that hung from the ceiling and walls. At the other end of the room stood a tall figure with his back turned as he gazed at a map of the Earth Kingdom. Kegare waited for a few moments for who he assumed to be Zhao to turn around or acknowledge his presence.

"So," the man finally spoke. Kegare stiffened unintentionally from the sound of the man's voice cutting through the silence of the room. "You have information on Prince Zuko do you?"

"Sir no sir," Kegare replied. "The girl I found mentioned Zuko's name. And she was with an Earthbender. I figure at the very least they could have some information on the rogue prince's whereabouts."

Zhao began to turn around, but he kept his gaze on the map a bit longer as he spoke, "Do you realize that-," Zhao paused for a moment and eyed Kegare curiously. The Earthbender in disguise stood firmly to keep himself from shaking nervously. "Aren't you a little short for a soldier?" Kegare looked down, seeing that the armor he wore was about half a size too large for him.

"S-sorry sir. They told me this was the only size they had." The soldier in disguise restarted his timer.

Zhao seemed to register this for a moment before walking towards Kegare, "Why don't you take off that helmet? It's stuffy in here." Kegare nodded wordlessly before taking the helmet off and holding it at his side. His hair was pulled tight and neatly into a ponytail, and his hair gave off a bit more shine, thanks to one of Ty Lee's conditioners. Kegare kept his face straight, body firm, and kept eye contact with Zhao. "Do you know soldier, what exactly the renegade prince's crimes were?"

"Sir…?"

"His crimes," Zhao repeated as he started to walk towards Kegare. "Why he ran away from the Fire Nation, how he received that scar?"

"To be honest sir I'm just a soldier from the colonies," Kegare lied. "I haven't been very up-to-date with my history of the homeland."

"Oh it's recent history I assure you," Zhao quickly replied. "The young prince isn't much older than you." Kegare's eyes shifted to the side as Zhao stopped behind him. The Earthbender's posture didn't change at all. "Now I'll ask you again: do you know what Zuko's crimes are soldier?"

"If I'm not mistaken, he spoke against Fire Lord Iroh didn't he?"

"Yes, yes he did. And do you know what else he did soldier?"

"He threatened the Fire Lord." Zhao smiled before he turned his head down to Kegare. The commander continued to walk around the disguised soldier.

"And challenged Fire Lord Iroh to an Agni Kai," Zhao finished. "Instead, the Fire Lord denied this challenge, and his niece, Princess Azula shot and scarred the boy's face permanently." Zhao stopped a few feet in front of Kegare before he turned back around to face him. "Do you know why Fire Lord Iroh denied Zuko's challenge to an Agni Kai?"

"I can't say that I do sir."

"Because of Zuko's disgrace of a father! The reason Zuko spoke out against the Fire Lord was because he banished the pacifistic traitor Ozai!" Kegare's grip on his helmet tightened a bit. "Tell me what you know of Ozai soldier."

"Sir, Ozai was the youngest son of former Fire Lord Azulon, and Fire Lord Iroh's personal advisor for some time. Before his banishment, Ozai started to actively speak out against the War, and tried to convince his brother to bring an end to it." Zhao chuckled as he looked up at the ceiling, as if he were laughing at Ozai himself.

"Because of that, Ozai was banished and labeled a coward and a traitor for trying to impede the glory of the Fire Nation. It was because of this that Iroh denied Zuko's challenge. Because his father was a disgrace and Zuko was no different."

"With due respect sir, I'm just here to report to you."

"Are you?" Zhao narrowed his eyes, and his smile changed into a frown. The commander turned his head and glared at Kegare. "Or are you here to get information out of me?"

Kegare didn't budge in the slightest as he slowly spoke, "Sir…?"

Zhao chuckled before walking back towards the map of the Earth Kingdom. "Do you know what gave you away? Your rigid posture." Kegare finally flinched visibly. Zhao kept his back turned and continued, "Fire Nation soldiers are well known for their discipline, but Earthbenders are also well known for their firm footing to the ground. All of my soldiers, when they become nervous or uneasy at least shift their footing ever so slightly. You on the other hand, Earthbender, haven't budged once."

"Then why humor me," Kegare finally asked, a certain edge in his tone. Zhao chuckled and then faced the young man again.

"To see how much you actually knew. To be honest I'm surprised you knew that much."

"To be honest it's not that hard to read you Fire Nation types. Power-hungry, egotistical, arrogant, and overall just plain jerk-offs." Zhao huffed with amusement, a small smirk forming on the corner of his lips. "But Ozai was different. He stood up for something he believed in, and not something that had been drilled into his mind like the rest of you. He saw this War as pointless and with no end, and pleaded with his own brother to stop it. Iroh has the power to stop this War, and instead of listening to his own brother, he chooses to continue all this unnecessary bloodshed for no other reason than for 'the glory of the Fire Nation.' If nothing else, Ozai deserves to be treated as more of a hero than a traitor."

"Such is the talk I would expect from a fellow pacifist," Zhao replied. "Lu Ten told me about how he encountered two Earthbenders, a young girl and a young boy, who saved the little bounty hunter June. Then I hear about Ty Lee, the girl who sheltered the rogue prince Zuko run off with a young woman carrying a whip and two Earthbenders. Obviously you're not Earth Kingdom army, which means you're draft dodgers. Yet here you are, knee deep in Fire Nation territory." Zhao walked up to Kegare and leaned forward, inches from the young man's face. "You're just as pathetic as the rest of your type you know that?" A pair of Firebenders entered the room and shackled Kegare with no struggle. "Take this filth back to the cells. I'll escort him personally."

* * *

Kegare was walked through the small town all the way back to the makeshift prison. Zhao entered the building first and approached the soldier at the front desk, "Where's the other soldier who came with the prisoners?"

"I think he stepped out sir," the soldier replied. Zhao narrowed his eyes before he turned back to face Kegare.

"Where is she?"

* * *

Back in Zhao's office, June quietly snuck in. She stuck to the shadows and inched towards the commander's desk. She reached towards a scroll while looking back at the door. To her shock, June felt another hand underneath hers. The bounty hunter quickly snapped her head around, and was met with the angered face of a scarred young man.

"You," both June and Zuko exclaimed. June quickly turned her head back around to make sure nobody heard them before staring back at the prince.

"We've gotta stop meeting like this," June finally said.

"What're you doing here? Haven't you caused enough trouble?"

"We're here trying to find you Zuko," June snapped. The rogue prince seemed surprised by the fact the bounty hunter knew his name. "We're here with Ty Lee, and we were trying to see if we could find you in this town."

"Ty Lee's with you? Where is she?"

"Uh…would you believe me if I said prison," June asked, trying to sound as innocent and sweet as possible. Zuko's face immediately twisted in anger. His nostrils flared in rage as he stood up with a weak burst of fire shooting out of his nose. "Wait a minute!" June stood up and grabbed the prince's arm. Zuko snapped his head around and glared at the bounty hunter who matched his gaze. "We have a plan to get her and the others out of jail. But you've gotta do as I say, got it?"

"Give me one reason to trust you," Zuko seethed.

"If I REALLY wanted to I could knock you out and negotiate a bounty on you from Zhao, and talk my way out of prison." June's statement seemed to calm the rogue prince seemed to calm a bit, or at the very least eased his tension a bit. "First we gotta get out of here before Zhao realizes Kegare's partner is gone."

"Wait, why were you in here then," Zuko asked.

"We were hoping to find information about you to hopefully narrow down our search. What about you?"

"I was going to see if they capture Ty Lee or if she got away when Zhao's men showed up. Obviously she was fine for awhile…" June gave a sorry smile before moving out of the exit first with the prince behind her.

* * *

Minutes later, Zhao came back to his office, enraged that he found nobody. The commander snarled before he turned back around to scream at his men a bit.

"I want you to find them," Zhao half-screamed at his men. "Find anyone who looks suspicious, our own men included! And I want double the amount of guards in the prison!" The soldiers all saluted their commander before scrambling out into the streets. Zhao turned around and snarled in anger.

* * *

In the prison cells, both Toph and Kegare hung from their hands chained high above their heads, and close to the walls to prevent them from moving. Ty Lee remained shackled with her hands and feet together, but she had more than enough room to move a little bit. Kegare looked up and wrestled with the chains a bit to see if there was any chance of being able to Earthbend. From the other cell, Toph sighed noisily.

"Can you stop messing with those chains? Believe me, I've tried to break out of this! I'm a better Earthbender than you are, remember Man-Boy?"

"Yeah, but unlike you I have working eyes," Kegare calmly stated as his eyes scanned his cell.

"What's that supposed to mean," Toph angrily snapped.

"There might be a crack or something in the walls that we can manipulate, or some sort of design flaw in the rooms."

"Oh…I didn't think about that."

Kegare rolled his eyes and then continued to look for something to help them. In the furthest cell from the Earthbender, Ty Lee stared at her feet with worry.

* * *

June and Zuko crouched next to the corner of a building and looked out to the bounty station, which was surrounded with some type of commotion. "What's going on," June asked.

"I think they're moving out," Zuko replied. "They're gathering their supplies and moving further into the desert." The bounty hunter looked up at the rouge prince curiously before moving her eyes back to the bounty station.

"What's out in the desert except a lot of sand?"

"I'm not sure. Something is out there that's worth Zhao's attention is all I know about." June narrowed her eyes and locked eyes with Zuko.

"I don't like this…"

* * *

The soldiers brought out the prisoners in shackles, with Kegare and Toph both being carried off of the ground to keep them from the earth. Ty Lee was sat up on the back of a Komodo Rhino while the two Earthbenders were thrown on the backs like sacks of potatoes.

"Hey, careful," Toph shouted. "I may be able to kick all your butts, but I'm still a lady!" Kegare scoffed under his breath while staring in the other direction. Toph whipped her head around in the direction of the scoff. "You _say_ something Man-Boy!"

"Who, me? No. Had to be one of these Firebenders."

"No talking," one soldier snapped angrily. Kegare rolled his eyes as the mounts began to move forward.

At the entrance of town, Zhao sat on the back of a Komodo Rhino while he stared at a map. "The place we seek is in the center of this desert! We move forward and stop for nothing!" The mount moved forward, and led the front of the moving army.

"The desert," Ty Lee whined, "This is going to do horrors to my complexion."

"What's in the desert besides a bunch of sand," Toph and Kegare asked at the same time. The two Earthbenders snapped their heads in the other's direction, "STOP DOING THAT!"

"Both of you shut up," one soldier shouted.

* * *

Several hours into the desert, and several soldiers were ready to collapse from sheer exhaustion alone. Combined with the scorching heat from the sun above, many soldiers were left lying in the sand by their fellow comrades.

The three prisoners had it the worst, as they were barely given any water, and were about to faint from heat-stroke. Zhao's eyes scanned the horizon before him carefully, as he didn't want to miss any single clue. He kept the prisoners because he knew that somewhere amongst his ranks were a pair of moles who were waiting for the right opportunity to get their friends. Once they were far enough into the desert though, Zhao planned on dumping the three prisoners in the sand-box, since he knew that they wouldn't be able to survive even if they reunited with their friends. Not without water anyway.

Toph and Kegare both groaned weakly as sweat poured off of their faces. Ty Lee had it a bit easier, since she could use the soldier in front of her to lean against and for shade. Kegare looked over in his fellow Earthbender's direction, "Hey Toph…remember that thing I said about variables?"

"Shut up Kegare," Toph threatened with a weakened tone. "Just shut up." The young man hung his head to the ground and stayed silent. He figured since Toph used his name that she had to be serious, and far beyond the point of considering to crack a joke.

As the sun began to set, the temperature became a little more bearable for everyone. The cool air was welcomed by all the soldiers, and Zhao mercifully decided to make camp under the cool air. The commander also handpicked four soldiers to guard the prisoners while others set up watch and others their tents.

While the soldiers got a few moderately tasty looking meals, the prisoners received rather charred looking pieces of meat on a stick. "Yummy," Kegare deadpanned.

"Ah shut up and eat," one soldier snapped. "Unless you'd rather have an empty stomach."

"Hey, this one can't see," another soldier pointed out. "Maybe one of us should feed her instead." The soldiers all chuckled in amusement while Toph simply glared in anger.

"Picking on a blind girl, ooh, aren't we the tough guy," Kegare sarcastically droned. The Earthbender was far too exhausted to try to add any sort of tone in his voice. The soldier turned to the prisoner and swiftly kicked Kegare across the face. The other soldiers laughed as the boy hit the ground, unintentionally getting sand in his mouth.

"Where did it say in your job description that beating up kids was required," Toph angrily questioned. The soldiers looked over to her with scowls or amused grins. "How about you just sit down and shut up before I shove my fist down your throat."

The soldier grabbed a handful of Toph's hair and pulled back on it, causing the young Earthbender to wince in pain, "How about I shove something else down your throat to keep you quite?"

Toph's response was a quick crashing of her skull into the soldier's. The blow caused the soldier to cry out and fall onto his back. Toph angrily slammed her forehead into the man's face again, managing to land the hit on his nose and break it. The other soldiers quickly scrambled up and threw the Earthbender off their comrade. The soldier groaned as he held his bleeding nose.

One soldier stepped forward and kicked sand onto the burnt pieces of food they gave their prisoners, "Find your food now you crazy bitch!" The guards walked away with their broken-nosed friend and left the three prisoners.

Toph scowled to herself before sitting upright and shaking the sand off her clothes. "You came from the same nation as those poor excuses for people," Toph bitterly questioned.

"I'm afraid so," Ty Lee murmured with a hint of shame.

Kegare sat up and slowly inched towards the pile of sand that hid their 'meal.' The former Earth Kingdom soldier started to use his feet to dig their food out before he finally found the sand covered food.

"Yummy," Kegare deadpanned in the exact same manner as before. Toph turned her head a bit and questioned if her partner was really _digging_ for food.

"You're joking right? You're not actually going to eat that crap are you?" Kegare sat up with a wide-eyed look as he held one of the sticks in his mouth. He dropped the food in his lap to keep it out of the sand while trying to be as quiet as possible. "After the way they treated us, you're going to act like an animal digging for scraps?"

"I look at it this way," Kegare said before he bent over. The Earthbender picked up another piece of food by the stick and dropped it in his lap, "When we get out of this, those guys will just have that much larger of an ass-kicking coming their way. But, you can't kick their asses properly on an empty stomach can you?" Kegare picked up the last charred-meat-on-a-stick and dropped it in his lap. Toph sighed and growled angrily as her stomach growled in hunger. Kegare smiled in victory as Toph blushed with embarrassment. "I take it your stomach agrees with me."

"It's not like we have much of a choice though do we," Ty Lee murmured as she offered the most convincing smile she could give. Kegare nodded as he returned her smile and scooted towards the two girls. He stopped in front of them and then rolled what was qualified as food onto the ground. "I'm…I'm sorry you two…" Toph and Kegare both looked over to Ty Lee with confused stares. "I…I just sat by and let you two get roughed up by those soldiers…"

"Don't worry about it," Toph replied. "It's no use them beating us all up just because Kegare and I have big mouths."

"Yeah. Besides, I think they like you better, being Fire Nation and all."

"That's all the more reason I should speak out against them," Ty Lee responded.

"Hey, not everyone has to walk away from this in bruises," Toph pressed on. "You just do what you can to keep your girly skin girly, got it?"

Ty Lee smiled and blushed faintly, "Got it."

Kegare bent over and picked up a piece of charred food, which he soon realized was about as hard as a rock, with his teeth. He grimaced with the burnt food in his mouth, causing Ty Lee to become even more reluctant as she bent over and picked up a piece herself. The acrobat's face twisted in a bitter expression as she crunched the disgusting food.

"It's not that bad…once you get past the burning taste of ass," Kegare grimaced.

"That's _all_ I taste," Ty Lee replied. Kegare made the bitterest of faces before he nodded in agreement. The Earthbender turned his head to Toph. The blind Earthbender remained motionless as her gaze stared into empty space.

"You okay," Kegare asked.

"I'm fine." Ty Lee looked over as she reluctantly swallowed the food in her mouth. The acrobat tilted her head curiously to the side while Kegare stared at Toph with narrowed eyes of suspicion.

Realization struck as Ty Lee's head perked up, "Oh! She can't 'see' her food, right?" Toph's cheeks immediately reddened from embarrassment before she sharply turned her head to the side to try and hide her face. "You're gonna have to feed her Kegare." The two Earthbenders both snapped their heads around to Ty Lee. The acrobat was looking back at the former soldier with a stern look before she nodded her head towards the charred food on the ground.

"Why me," Kegare finally asked.

"Because my chains are tighter so I can't move around as much as you can. You gotta feed her."

"I can't move my hands either remember?"

"Grab the stick with your mouth then," Ty Lee suggested.

"Whoa, no way!" Kegare and Ty Lee looked over at Toph who started scooting herself away from her companions. "No way am I swapping spit with Man-Boy!"

"It's not swapping spit," Ty Lee insisted. "He's just picking it up by the stick so you can get to the actual meat with your mouth." The acrobat paused and gave herself a confused, slightly disturbed look. "That just sounded all sorts of weird…"

"All the more reason for him _not_ to feed me," Toph snapped. The blind girl's stomach protested with a noisy growl. Toph narrowed her eyes in frustration at her own organs as her cheeks heated up with embarrassment. "Shut up. I can feel you all looking at me, so shut up."

"Oh will you both stop acting like babies," Ty Lee exclaimed. "Just let him feed you! It's not like he has cooties or anything."

"Yes he does! He has the Man-Boy cooties!"

"Okay, now you're just trying too hard," Kegare said with a sigh, referring to how much Toph throws insults around. The Earthbender started scooting across the sand on his butt before he stopped in front of Toph's food. "Ty Lee's right. This shouldn't be a big deal."

"You're just saying that because you like seeing me suffer!"

Kegare smirked and rolled his eyes, "Oh you're one to talk. Just accept the damn help for once. It doesn't make you any less of a man."

Toph glared at Kegare who leaned forward and took the stick in his mouth. "More of a man than you," Toph muttered under her breath.

Kegare scooted closer until he was in front of Toph. It was at that point that the former soldier realized just how embarrassing of an ordeal this would turn out to be. Kegare took in a deep breath and leaned forward slowly.

Toph blushed furiously as she felt Kegare's face brushing against the tips of her bangs. Kegare averted his eyes, unable to look at Toph as he reddened feverishly. The blind Earthbender slowly leaned forward and prayed that she wouldn't touch Kegare with her lips. She practically screamed with joy once she bit down into a piece of horribly burnt meat that tasted almost purely of charcoal. After biting off a piece, Kegare leaned back to allow his fellow Earthbender to chew.

Ty Lee watched the sight with scarcely contained giggles as she crunched her own disgusting meat. Watching Toph and Kegare's faces heating up the way they were was almost enough to distract Ty Lee's mind from the horrible taste in her mouth. Almost.

"Well isn't this a cute sight," a female's voice asked. Kegare and Toph immediately shot away from each other and looked in opposite directions. Standing over the two Earthbenders were two people dressed in a Fire Nation soldier's uniform. "And here I thought you two didn't like each other."

"Shut up June," Kegare hissed bitterly as he recognized the voice. Ty Lee looked over to the other soldier as he approached her.

"Are you alright," the young man asked. Ty Lee beamed happily as her heart nearly did a back flip.

"I am now that you're okay," the acrobat replied.

"Get me outta this now," Toph said threateningly to June.

"I'd love to, as much as I hate to see the two of you getting along, but we're surrounded by Fire Nation soldiers. We'd need some sort of miracle in order for us to cut you three loose without the entire army coming down on us."

Suddenly, the ground shook violently as several pillars of sand shot into the sky. All of the animal mounts cried out in shock as the Fire Nation soldiers were taken off guard.

"Sandbenders," someone shouted.

"Well look at that," June murmured as she looked towards the commotion with shock in her eyes. "I can summon miracles on a whim."

"Now is a good distraction right," Kegare hastily questioned. Zuko quickly undid Ty Lee's bonds as the Fire Nation camp scrambled to their stations. The acrobat rubbed her wrists as she smiled up at Zuko who moved to release the others.

June undid Kegare's restraints while Zuko worked on Toph's. A battle between fire and sand started in the background. The two Earthbenders were released and quickly shot up to their feet. "Can you two bend the sand to distract them," Zuko asked as he watched the chaos come closer to them.

"Uh…" Kegare looked over to Toph who stared forward with a vacant stare. "No. Sand is a different form of earth that I don't think either of us has enough practice with."

"So in other words," June began as she held her hands up before twirling them to point to her right, "We run." A fireball came crashing down near the Team before they hauled their butts away from the madness.

A group of Sandbenders on a sand-sailor noticed the Team running away and moved to intercept them. June quickly snapped her head around and stopped as she threw her arms out to the side. The rest of the Team stopped as well as the sand-sailor shot past them.

"Move!" The Team continued forward, running as fast as they possibly could. The sand-sailor circled back around, with two Sandbenders at the end throwing their arms up into the air.

The sand came up beneath June and Zuko's feet, and threw the two of them flat on their faces. More Sandbenders came out of nowhere and surrounded the Team, armed with daggers and knives.

"Ah crap…" Kegare murmured.

"Take the Fire Nation scum!" All heads turned to a large man with a balding head, and a thick scruffy beard step towards them. "You three, get on one of the sailors and come on!" Kegare, Toph, and Ty Lee all blinked in confusion before giving each other the same baffled look. A fireball came crashing down behind the large man, forcing him to turn around, "HURRY!"

A group of Sandbenders picked up June and Zuko off the ground, tied them up and then threw them up onto the nearest sand-sailor before jumping on themselves and riding off into the distance. Kegare opened his mouth to protest, before another sand-sailor showed up and coated his back with sand.

"Get on," a Sandbender shouted. Ty Lee quickly helped Toph up onto the sailor, seeing it as her only way to reunite with Zuko again, before jumping on herself. Kegare shook the sand off and quickly jumped onboard as well before the sand-sailor was propelled forward.

Toph latched onto the nearest, secure holding she could find and clung onto it with dear life. Kegare crouched down as he was nearly thrown off balance and off the sailor itself. Ty Lee maintained perfect balance as she walked towards the Sandbender moving the sailor.

"Where are they going," Ty Lee asked over the swirling winds. The acrobat pointed to the sailor Zuko and June were on to make sure the 'pilot' knew what she was talking about.

"We're all heading back to the village," the Sandbender replied. "That's where we'll decide what to do with the Fire Nation scum!"

"They weren't Fire Nation," Ty Lee shouted. "They were disguised as soldiers to try to save us!"

"I'd bring it up with the chief lady. He's the one who'll decide what happens to them, not me." Ty Lee nodded before turning around and walking towards the two Earthbenders, who were having more than enough trouble staying onboard.

The acrobat held her hand up to her chest and her eyes softened in worry, "Zuko…" The sand-sailor shot off into the distance, towards the full moon resting beyond the horizon.

* * *

**So, as a late holiday present I've decided to reward fans of this story with not one, but two chapters since they're not the hardest things in the world to crank out. And I'm updating my other two stories too, my Left 4 Dead and Naruto stories. Hopefully I'll have more time to write for my stories before I go back to school…but don't quote me on that…I'll try my best. Honest lol. Hope you enjoyed the two chapters, and I hope all readers had a good holiday season =)**


	8. Captured II

Toph jumped off the sand-sailor and onto her feet and immediately scowled, "Oh come on! Is there no _solid_ ground anywhere?" Kegare and Ty Lee jumped off behind Toph. The former soldier rolled his eyes as Ty Lee ran off towards the sand-sailor carrying the newly deemed prisoners.

"So you can't see is what you're saying," Kegare asked.

"Well I could never see moron." Toph crossed her arms and whipped her head in her fellow Earthbender's direction. "Did it take you this long to figure that out or something?" Kegare slapped his forehead and shook his head before putting both hands on his hips.

"I meant with your feet! Can you see or do I have to carry you?"

"PLEASE! After you fed me with your mouth like a baby bird-seal, I'd rather walk over hot coals!" The nearby Sandbenders all turned their heads at this point, wondering what in Spirit's name they were talking about.

"I didn't feed you like a baby bird-seal," Kegare snapped as he pointed a finger in Toph's face. "If I did that I'd have chewed that crap up and spit it in your mouth!" The former soldier growled angrily before he shook his head furiously. "That still doesn't answer my question! Can you see or not?"

"You KNOW I can't see idiot!" Kegare's entire upper body slumped forward in disbelief. Toph crossed her arms and narrowed her faded eyes at her fellow Earthbender.

"I'm done," Kegare snapped as he turned around and followed Ty Lee. Toph's eyes widened as she lowered her arms and stomped her foot on the ground.

"HEY! What if I couldn't see!"

"You know you can't see idiot!" Toph stomped her foot again, this time with enough force to cause the sand around her to shoot up.

"I can _barely_ see," Toph shouted as she quickly chased after Kegare. "I need my seeing eye mutt!" The former soldier groaned when his blind companion caught back up with him and grabbed onto the sleeve of his shirt.

"So I go from Man-Boy to mutt?"

"Damn skippy," Toph replied as she offered a surprisingly kind smile. Kegare sighed in defeat as he walked forward with Toph right next to him.

Ty Lee was held back by a pair of Sandbenders, who formed a line between her, June and Zuko. "Let them go! They're not your enemy, I promise!"

"We'll decide that girl," one Sandbender snapped angrily.

"I want to talk to your chief," Ty Lee firmly ordered as her two Earthbending partners walked up.

"We saved your life! What right do you have to demand ANYTHING from us?"

"Be quiet Ghashiun!" The Sandbenders and the three Team members turned around. The large, bearded man from before walked up with a few singe marks on his clothing, but overall unharmed. "I am the leader of the Hami Tribe, Sha-Mo. What do you wish to discuss young lady?"

"Those two prisoners of yours aren't your enemy. They're our friends who disguised themselves as Fire Nation soldiers to try to rescue us." Ty Lee placed her hands together and her eyes softened a bit. "Please let them go. I promise you they're on our side."

"How do we know they aren't from the Fire Nation," Ghashiun angrily questioned. "Father, we can't trust them until we know for sure what the Fire Nation wants out here."

"Whatever it is, one of the Fire Nation's top leaders, Commander Zhao is leading them," Kegare said. "So whatever it is I promise you it's important."

"Plus if you find me some _real_ earth, I can show you Earthbending like you've never seen," Toph added. Sha-Mo carefully examined the trio before him before looking over to his prisoners being taken to their makeshift jail.

"I'll talk with the prisoners personally before deciding." Sha-Mo turned back to Ty Lee, "Would that be acceptable? If I talked with them alone?"

"Yes sir," Ty Lee replied with a gleeful smile. "I swear you'll find out they're not bad people."

"June's a bit of a smart-ass though," Toph stated as she looked over at Kegare.

"And from what I've gathered Zuko has a short temper," the former soldier added. Ty Lee whirled around and glared at the two Earthbenders angrily.

"You three are welcome to rest up here at our village," Sha-Mo offered. "I promise until we know for sure that your friends won't be-," The older man was cut off when a young girl with brown hair tied into a braid down her back with bangs framing either side of her face, dressed in a short sleeved shirt, a scarf tied around her neck and part of her shoulders, a thin belt tied around her waist, with a short apron skirt and shorts that stopped just above her knees stepped between them, and eyed the visitors curiously. Sha-Mo groaned softly under his breath as the young girl stepped closer to the strangers. The girl suddenly squealed in excitement, causing the two Earthbenders and the acrobat to jump in fright. The young girl turned around, bouncing up and down in happiness.

"Papa! You brought back foreigners!"

"This doesn't concern you," Ghashiun snapped. "Go back to the house!"

"But they're guests," the little girl replied as she turned around and beamed excitedly at the newcomers. "It's our tradition to treat guests with the utmost hospitality right papa?"

"That's right, but I can tell you right now making our guests feel uncomfortable isn't very hospitable little one." The girl bounced up, straitening her back as her father's words sunk in.

"Oh, my apologies," the little girl replied with a bow, "My name is Jiao, the youngest child of Chief Sha-Mo." Jiao lifted up her head and smiled as she tilted her head to the side. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Uh…nice to meet you too," Kegare awkwardly responded. "You can call me Kegare. This is Toph, and that's Ty Lee."

"Let me show you where you'll be sleeping overnight," Jiao offered. The Team nodded then followed the young girl towards a small stone hut. "So where are you three from? The Earth Kingdom?"

"Well actually I'm-," Kegare quickly put his hand over Ty Lee's mouth.

"YES! We're all from the Earth Kingdom. Born and raised."

"That's SO cool!" Jiao spun around and beamed at the Team happily, "I bet you three have seen all sorts of cool things together!"

"I guess you can say that," Toph murmured as she recapped her 'adventures' with the Team.

"What's the most exotic thing you all have ever seen? Oh, have you been to Ba Sing Se? Or Omashu? I heard the king of Omashu is over a HUNDRED years old!" Jiao spun back around, allowing Kegare and Ty Lee to exchanged confused glances. "I didn't know people could live to be over a hundred. Are there a lot of people like that out in the world?" Jiao spun around again, kicking up some sand around her feet as she did. "Oh, how's the War with the Fire Nation going?"

Kegare rubbed the back of his neck as he looked at Ty Lee, who shrugged at him. The former soldier looked back at Jiao, "What question do you want us to answer first?" Jiao's eyes widened momentarily before she lowered her head in embarrassment.

"I'm sorry! Papa says I have a tendency to ask too many questions…"

"Not age appropriate, I have been there a couple of times, no, I don't know anyone over thirty, I haven't heard of many people living to be over a hundred," Toph answered. All eyes went to the blind Earthbender who stood nonchalantly. "Oh, and the War is taking a turn for the worse."

Jiao looked up as she recounted her questions and compared them to Toph's answers. The young girl grinned widely and bowed to her blind senior, "Thank you! I don't know many people who could follow all my questions like that."

"Eh, with my disability you learn to listen," Toph replied as she waved her hand in front of her eyes. Jiao turned around and opened the door for the guests to enter. Toph was the first to step inside, and was almost immediately floored. She regained her balance with an alarmed look on her face. "This floor…"

"What is it Toph," Kegare asked as he leaned over Jiao's shoulder.

"This floor is made of _actual_ earth! I CAN SEE!" Kegare rolled his eyes while Ty Lee simply giggled and Jiao smiled. The acrobat and former soldier entered the hut as Toph snuggled with the floor. Jiao stood in the doorway for a moment as she observed the trio before her carefully.

"You're draft dodgers aren't you?" Toph and Kegare's eyes nearly popped out of their heads before they turned around to look at the little girl. Jiao then looked over to Ty Lee, who was now on edge. "And you're not from the Earth Kingdom right?" The Team of three all looked to one another in silence. They couldn't fight a kid right? Jiao smiled and tilted her head to the side a bit, "Don't worry. Your secrets are safe with me." Once again, the three snapped their heads back to Jiao who continued smiling.

"How…why…what," Kegare stuttered.

"Elegantly phrased," Toph dead-panned.

"Well we've had Earth Kingdom soldiers come through the desert and try to bully the Sandbender Tribes into joining the military," Jiao explained. "A few of them got violent, so the Earth Kingdom left since they didn't want to fight two different enemies, even though the Sandbenders aren't meant to take on an army." Jiao closed the door and took a few more steps into the room before sitting on the edge of the nearest bed. "And the Fire Nation tries to steal from us. We don't have much to begin with, but when a regiment comes through the desert, they'll attack any Sandbender colony that has anything of value to help them survive another day. And it doesn't help that they think they can leave their dead lying about in the desert like trash…"

"That's just the way the Fire Nation is most of the time," Ty Lee explained with a softened tone. "If you were to fall in any other place than battle it'd be disgraceful…or at least that's what they tell the soldiers."

"It's not about how they treat their people," Jiao murmured. The Team looked up at Jiao who looked down at the floor. "It's their disrespect for the desert. Since the Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation have been moving throughout the desert, things have gotten even more difficult for those who live here. The days are hotter, the nights are below freezing, storms are more frequent and deadly, and even the desert animals seem to be more violent."

"The Spirit of the Desert…" Toph and Ty Lee shot Kegare a confused look, while Jiao's eyes lit up in astonishment. "That's what your people are thinking isn't it?"

"I-I'm surprised that anyone else knew about the Spirit of the Desert." Toph and Ty Lee looked back to Jiao and then once again to Kegare. "A lot of the elders and chiefs of the different tribes, my father included, think that the Spirit is enraged by how the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom are disrespecting the land, and we're left to deal with the consequences."

"If that's the case, I'm surprised you guys are still so nice to outsiders," Toph said.

"Well, I'm pretty sure papa knew you two were draft dodgers, which makes you enemies of the Earth Kingdom…which makes you our friends." Jiao looked over to Ty Lee next and widened her smile, "And in your case, I'm pretty sure your obvious kind-hearted nature reminded him of his little girl. Your friends though…I think papa will let them go if he got to know you three a little better." Jiao jumped off of the bed and bowed her head to the visitors. "I'd love to know more about the different cultures you all come from, but I still have a fair share of chores to do before I go to bed."

"It was nice meeting you," Ty Lee exclaimed happily. Jiao smiled at the older girl before she headed out of the hut.

Toph turned to Kegare once the door closed behind Jiao, "So would you care to explain how you can read minds?" Kegare gave Toph a confused look before he sat down on the nearest bed. Toph took the prolonged silence for confusion, "How'd you know that there was a desert spirit or whatever?"

"That did seem to come out of nowhere," Ty Lee added. Kegare sighed before he fell back in his bed and stared at the ceiling.

"My dad. He was a firm believer in the spirits, so he knew about as much about them as any living person. Sabaku is the Spirit of the Desert in the Earth Kingdom, and is known to be a wrathful spirit." Toph remained silent as Ty Lee tilted her head curiously. Kegare looked up at the ceiling as his eyes narrowed a bit. "That's why he went off to join the military. He saw the Fire Nation's actions as disrespectful to the presents the spirits bestowed upon us."

"I don't remember you mentioning your father," Ty Lee stated. "What happened to him?" Silence lingered heavily in the air. The acrobat looked down at her feet as she realized she accidently struck a nerve. Toph's eyes gazed unfocused at the foot of Kegare's bed. The former soldier rolled over and covered himself with the blanket. Ty Lee turned around and walked towards the door, "I'm gonna get some fresh air…" The door closed behind her as she left.

A few seconds passed before Toph slammed her heel in the ground. The ground beneath Kegare's bed rose up and threw the young man violently out of it with a frightened cry. The former soldier quickly threw his ponytail out of his face before he glared at Toph, "Alright, I'll bite: what the _crap_ was that for?"

"You being an inconsiderate jerk," Toph shouted as she leaned forward in Kegare's direction.

The Earthbender stood up and practically laughed in disbelief, "Oh that's rich. _I'm_ the inconsiderate one? Not you, no, _never_ Toph who insults every living thing that hangs around her for more than five minutes! Nah, you're the epitome of kindhearted human nature!"

"At least I didn't make Ty Lee feel like a bitch for asking a question," Toph snapped furiously. "I throw around insults in good nature! She asked about your father, who nobody knows about in this Team aside from me! And all I know is that you don't like him for some stupid reason!"

"_STUPID,_" Kegare practically roared. "What about you? I don't know a damn thing about your parents except that you don't know where they are!"

"My parents were rich snobs who thought that their little blind girl was a pampered princess who couldn't even cut her food without running the risk of hurting herself, and I hated them for the fact that they focused on the fact I couldn't see instead of seeing me as their daughter! Wanna know anything else? I won't hide a damn thing from you!"

"At least both of your parents were there for you," Kegare exclaimed. "My mom had her hands full with my baby sister and trying to keep our house, and my father was never around! I barely know anything about the man himself except what my mom has told me!"

"At least your parents treat you like a person instead of a fragile antique vase!" Kegare opened his mouth to shout back before the door came crashing down. Both Earthbenders whirled their heads around, with only one seeing a fuming June come stomping in the room.

"Both of you: SIT!" Kegare and Toph both snapped around, their backs facing each other, arms crossed, and lower lip stuck out. "I'm not going to repeat myself, understand?" Kegare huffed before he walked away and sat down on the nearest bed. Toph turned around and stuck her tongue out at her fellow Earthbender before flipping the overturned bed back over and sat down in it. June's furious features soon fell into a more tired look. Behind the bounty hunter entered a cautious Ty Lee and a slightly frightened Zuko. June pointed to Kegare, "You, explain."

"Man-Boy is a big baby," Toph muttered bitterly.

"I wasn't pointing to you!"

"Oh, I'm supposed to know who you're pointing to?" Toph pulled down on her lower eyelids with her fingertips. "I'm BLIND, remember?"

"How can any of us forget," Kegare snapped.

"I'm _so_ close to beating the life out of you!" A loud snapping caused both Earthbenders to jump with fear. June, once again enraged, snapped her whip once more for good measure.

The bounty hunter sighed before putting a hand on her hip, "You're both incredibly stupid you know that?" Both Earthbenders shifted their eyes over to June who looked back and forth between the two. "You both have parental issues. Big freaking deal. I don't have the perfect family either. But at least _I'm_ willing to talk about it. You two would just as soon beat each other senseless before talking about your family lives! Sparky there," June carelessly flung her arm in Zuko's direction, "has the worst family relationship out of everyone here."

"It's not about my family issues," Kegare muttered.

"Oh? So you think it's a weakness to talk about your past? Or maybe you think Toph will tease you for 'whining' about your father?" Kegare's eyes fell to the floor before he turned his back to the bounty hunter. June turned to Toph's direction, "And you need to stop thinking of your relationship with Kegare as a challenge. _You're_ the one who started this Team, and you're the one who allowed him to tag along with you before I joined the group. If you want us to be a real team, you've got to balance out you insulting him constantly with actually _giving_ a damn about him!"

The hut fell silent as June's words sunk in with the Earthbenders. Toph's eyes softened before she sighed. The blind girl jumped out of bed then walked over towards Kegare. June watched carefully in case Toph did something stupid. The blind girl, unaware of where her partner was, reached out slowly and touched his back. Kegare's head perked up a bit before he looked back over his shoulder. Toph's eyes and head were both pointed to the side.

"Sorry…" Kegare sighed before he turned around in the bed and let his legs have off the edge of it.

"Me too…" The former soldier looked over to the door and offered Ty Lee a wary smile, "I'm sorry to you too."

"Don't sweat it," Ty Lee replied with a wink and a smile. Kegare's smile widened a bit before Toph punched him in the arm suddenly.

"OW! What the—,"

"I show affection that way," Toph quickly sputtered as she stepped back and held her hands up. "Honest!" June gave an exhausted sigh while Ty Lee quietly laughed and Zuko scratched his head in confusion. Kegare rubbed his sore arm in pain before looking over to the bounty hunter.

"So how exactly did you show up with such good timing?"

"Oh, we got out once the boy-prince-wonder told them what the Fire Nation is doing in the desert," June explained. "Apparently Zhao is looking for some sort of Spirit Library or something."

"The hubba-da-what now," Kegare questioned with a dumbfounded tone.

"It's some Spirit Library which has a nearly infinite source of knowledge concerning the both the Spirit World and our world, or some crap." June walked forward and sat at the foot of the bed across from the Earthbenders. "The Sandbenders are pretty convinced that the library is just a myth, and that Zhao is wasting his time and men."

"But if the Spirit Library _does_ exist, and the Fire Nation gets their hands on the contents in that library…it could mean big trouble for the world," Kegare said with a fear-struck tone. June tilted her head to the side before looking to the other Earthbender.

"He's apparently the all knowing master of spirits too," Toph explained. June raised her head a bit before looking back to Kegare.

"So what are the chances of this place actually existing," Zuko asked as he stepped into the room.

"Well, I'm not entirely sure. But _if_ it exists, and the Fire Nation finds it…then the entire world could be in serious danger."

"If it did exist, you'd think the Sandbenders would be acting a little quicker to stop them," June pointed out as she looked back to the acrobat and rogue prince.

"I'm sure plenty of people have come through the desert looking for the library, and if anybody would know where such a library would be, it'd probably be the people who have traveled through this desert a thousand times," Kegare replied. "But I can understand why they don't want to mobilize against the Fire Nation. They're just a group of scattered tribes, not an actual military so they don't want to risk their own people on a myth…"

"But this is Commander Zhao," Zuko snapped. "I told them how taking out a man like him could be a critical blow to the Fire Nation!"

"Look, we don't know anything for certain," June said as she leaned forward. "The Sandbenders offered to get us out of the desert, not to chase after the Fire Nation on a whim. I can't blame them for not wanting to chase after the Fire Nation."

"But if we don't stop them, and the Spirit Library does exist-,"

"Yeah, big trouble," Toph said as she cut Ty Lee off. "Sorry Perky, but going around in circles with our only two options is driving me crazy. The thing we need to consider is if we _do_ chase after the Fire Nation, we'd be doing it alone. The Sandbenders aren't going to help us navigate through the desert. We're just gonna have to get out of the desert and pray that the Spirit Library doesn't exist…" Kegare and Zuko lowered their heads with a scowl, both of them feeling as though they just gave up.

"I can help." All heads turned to the door to see the young Jiao standing before them. "I'm not the greatest Sandbender ever, but I can at least push a sand-sailor."

"I don't think we can get away with the chief letting his daughter navigate us towards the Fire Nation," Kegare stated.

"That's why we sneak out," Jiao replied matter-of-factly.

"I like this girl," June almost immediately said, with a smirk on her face.

"Me too," Toph added with a matching smirk.

"Look, I think it's great that you want to help us try to save the world and all that heroic nonsense but-,"

"Oh screw that," Jiao interjected, cutting off a baffled Kegare. "I _need_ this! I have to get out and see the world. Ever since I was a little girl I've always been curious about the world, the different nations, and different cultures. I honestly know next to nothing about the Earth Kingdom outside of the desert!"

"Yeah, then the Sandbenders can all come at us in force to get back the chief's daughter who was kidnapped," Kegare exclaimed, "And the kidnappers were left stranded in the desert, never to be heard of again. The end."

"Look, I'm going with you," Jiao stated as she literally put her foot down with her hands on her hips. "It's either you accept my help, or you guys do the 'responsible' thing, leave me here, get escorted out of the desert, and run the risk of dooming the world to the Fire Nation's campaign because they gathered the information from the Spirit Library." Kegare opened his mouth to rebuttal, but quickly closed it once he realized he couldn't argue with her. Jiao gave the Team a toothy grin and waited for their response.

"Oh we have _got_ to bring her with us," June said first.

"Seconded," Toph exclaimed as she raised her hand. "So it stands that the motion is carried, and Little-Miss-Spunky, welcome to Team Toph!"

"Hey," Ty Lee snapped as she pushed Zuko forward, "You never welcomed him into the Team!" The acrobat looked up for a moment before she pointed her thumb at herself, "HEY! You never officially welcomed me into the group either!"

"Okay, okay, fine! Ty Lee, AKA Miss Perk, welcome to Team Toph. Should June or Man-Boy die, you'll be admitted as a senior of the Team."

"Wait a minute, we have a system for this Team," Kegare asked. "WAIT! If I'm a senior, how come my opinions usually get overridden by you?"

"Cause June usually agrees with me or doesn't have an opinion regardless. So in the event of an unbreakable tie, founder of the Team and she for who it is named after gets the final say."

"So what're the rest of us here for then," Zuko asked.

"Welcome to the Team Hot-Head, or Sparky, or Your Highness," Toph quickly and dismissively got out. "Um…" Toph pointed to Jiao, "Cause she's awesome." The blind girl then pointed to Ty Lee, "Cause she's polite amongst a group of sour-treats. And you because Ty Lee wanted her boyfriend."

The two Fire Nation natives blushed before angrily protesting, "I'm not her boyfriend!" along with an, "he's not my boyfriend!"

"Don't worry," June said as she leaned towards the Fire Nation 'couple' and pointed at the Earthbending duo, "They're in denial too."

"Oh shut up," Kegare dead-panned.

"I'd hate to stop yet another argument between you all, but I think we really should be going," Jiao stated. The young Sandbender headed out of the hut first with the rest of her teammates behind her.

* * *

The Team snuck along the outskirts of the village, following the youngest member's lead. Jiao's eyes cut through the camp, watching all of her tribe members carefully before running out from behind cover. The young Sandbender stopped behind the hut closest to the sand-sailors and carefully counted the number of guards. Jiao turned around to inform the Team, but stopped when she realized June was hovering over her, also counting their opposition. The bounty hunter slowly looked down at the younger girl and gave an awkward, apologetic smile. Jiao stepped around June and stood in the center of the group.

"Alright, there are at least four guards," Jiao informed. "I have a plan on how we can take them all out quietly."

"Isn't she a little young to be giving us orders," Zuko whispered to Kegare.

The Earthbender gave a wary look to Zuko, "You and me are the only boys. Thus, we're outnumbered." Zuko's eyes shot back to the Team as he started counting their numbers.

"So first what we'll do is-," Jiao was cut off when a loud thud was heard to her far left. The whole Team jumped and whirled to where the noise came from. They were all surprised to see an unconscious Sandbender lying on the ground. Jiao turned around just as June came into sight, a bit winded.

"Alright, coast is clear." Jiao gapped in outrage at the bounty hunter as the Team started to move towards the sand-sailors. The young Sandbender muttered below her breath in outrage before she followed after them.

"Get on the big one," Jiao whispered. The Team turned around and the youngest member pointed to said sailor. June quickly sprung onto the deck of the sailor first. Ty Lee nimbly did several flips towards, and then onto the sailor. Kegare knelt down as Toph stepped into his hand, and helped her up.

"They're stealing a sailor," a voice shouted from within the village.

"Ah crap," Jiao groaned.

The village was lit up with torches as several armed villagers and Sandbenders came running towards their sailors. Kegare quickly tossed Toph like a sack of potatoes onto the sailor, getting a pained yelp from the blind Earthbender before he quickly climbed onto the sailor.

"It takes me awhile to get this thing going," Jiao shouted as she moved into position on the sailor. "Hold them off!"

"I have nothing to bend thank you very much," Kegare shouted.

"And I'm TOTALLY blind," Toph added, pulling down on her lower eyelids. A stream of fire cut through the darkness of night very suddenly, heading towards the oncoming mob. June smacked her hand to her face, while Ty Lee covered her mouth in concern, and Kegare looked on in horror. Jiao gapped in horror as she looked at the scarred prince, who stood firm against the dozens of horrified and enraged tribe members. Toph's head move around, unsure about the ongoing silence in the air. "What happened?"

"HE'S A FIREBENDER," Jiao shrieked at the top of her lungs in outrage.

"We'll explain later," June replied before springing off the sand-sailor to aid Zuko. "The rest of you stay on that boat!"

"It's a sailor," Jiao corrected. The young girl turned to the other members of the Team, "HE'S A FIREBENDER!"

"Yes, shocking," Kegare quickly spat out with haste on his tone, "Can you get us out of here before we're dismembered?"

"Oh I'm gonna dismember SOMEONE after this," Jiao shouted as she started moving her arms and upper body towards the sail.

Zuko continued to shoot fire from his fists and feet, but only to keep the mob back. He scowled to himself when he noticed the eyes of a few battle-hardened Sandbenders. They clearly recognized what Zuko was doing, and were waiting for an opening.

June quickly shot past Zuko, catching the young prince by surprise as she darted right for the mob. The tribe members themselves seemed to be taken back by June's rather reckless actions. The bounty hunter roared as she slammed her fist into the first Sandbender's face with all her might. Her fist dug into his face for a moment before he was sent flying back, crashing into three other men and throwing them to the ground.

"Whoa," Zuko murmured in total shock.

June ducked under a sword aimed for her head, spun around and slammed the back of her heel into her attacker's side. The man cried out in pain before he was thrown into one of his comrades.

"Okay, tell them to get on," Jiao shouted to her teammates as the sand-sailor started to slowly move forward. Ty Lee ran towards the back of the sailor and cupped her hands over her mouth.

"Hey! We're getting out of here!" Zuko turned his head and then looked back to June who just took down two more men.

"June, come on!" The bounty hunter tripped one man before she sprinted back towards Zuko and the sailor. The Firebender grabbed onto the edge of the sailor's deck. Ty Lee grabbed his wrists and helped pull him up onto the sailor. The Fire Nation couple turned around, seeing June sprint as fast as she could towards them. "Come on June!"

"I'm. Running. As. Fast. As. I. CAN!" The bounty hunter panted heavily as her legs carried her faster and faster. Finally, June sprung forward and reached for the sailor. Her hands had just barely missed the wooden edge, but she was caught by two hands. Zuko and Ty Lee both growled as they pulled June up towards the sailor. Once she was on board, the three of them collapsed onto the sailor, June and Zuko panting from exhaustion while Ty Lee let out a soft, relieved sigh. "We're never…doing that again…"

"Is everyone okay back there," Jiao shouted as she started to move the sand around more vigorously, pushing the sailor forward faster.

"I think they're all okay," Kegare replied.

"That's good," Jiao breathed with relief. "Now that we're all safe, HE'S A FIREBENDER?" The Team all groaned simultaneously at the youngster's rage.


	9. The Spirit Library

Jiao scowled as she continued to push the sand-sailor through the desert. After much convincing from the Team, Jiao believed them when they said that they weren't Fire Nation soldiers. The bad news for the Team though, was that nobody knew how to get to the Spirit Library, or the Fire Nation battalion Zhao was leading.

June scowled as she tried her best to hide away from all the sand flying around them, "Ugh! This crap is never going to get out of my hair…"

Ty Lee smiled and whipped her braided ponytail over her shoulder, "That's why I always braid my hair before I head out. It keeps it out of my face and keeps anything from getting in it."

"You two are such girls," Toph said with a dismissive huff. "Who cares about what gets in your hair? Just pour some water through it and you'll be fine."

"Try looking at us and say that," June replied with a taunting smirk. Toph blinked for a second before turning her body towards the other two girls of the Team. Ty Lee giggled softly in amusement while June's smirk grew.

Zuko and Kegare stood at the bow of the sailor and looked out ahead of them into the sandy wind. The Earthbender turned to Jiao and called out to her, "Hey! Do you know where we're going? It seems like you're sending us into a sand storm!"

"I'm sending us _around_ a sand storm! It's so we can cover our tracks so my father and the others can't follow us as easily!"

"Makes sense," Zuko said to Kegare in agreement. "But this seems to be really close to the storm!"

"This is nothing," Jiao shouted over the winds. "I've been through worse! But with only one Sandbender, and I'm not even that great to begin with, this is as much as I can manage! Don't worry, we'll be leaving the storm soon!"

The two boys nodded silently as they looked at the youngest and newest member of their Team. Neither could ignore the fact that Jiao seemed to be absolutely exhausted. After a few more seconds, the sailor cleared the storm, and entered the barren wasteland that was the desert.

"Keep an eye out for any sign of the Fire Nation or the Spirit Library," Kegare ordered.

"Difficult for some of us," Toph all too readily pointed out. Kegare rolled his eyes before he looked out to the horizon.

"What's that," Ty Lee asked as she pointed head ahead. The Team all looked forward with soft gasps when they saw a few burning piles not too far off.

"Wait…they're Sandbenders," Jiao shouted. The Team all looked up to the little girl in shock before she immediately jumped off of the sand-sailor. The giant wooden transport started to slow down drastically as the rest of the Team jumped off, with June carrying Toph on her back.

Jiao sprinted towards the devastation and quickly looked around in horror. The bodies of her people lied around her, some beaten, impaled, or burned completely. "No…" Jiao continued to stare at the dreadful sight around her.

"Lady…Jiao…" The young Sandbender turned her head and quickly rushed towards a wounded Sandbender.

"Are you okay," Jiao immediately asked before she fell to her knees in front of the older man. "What happened?"

"W…we were following the Fire Nation…a-and then they…they…" The old man coughed up blood on himself. Jiao cringed away, her breath catching in her throat. The rest of the Team scattered around the battlefield to see if there were any other survivors. June and Toph both stood a few feet behind Jiao. The bounty hunter watched in silence while Toph listened intently. "They found out we were tailing them…th-they attacked in force. Wipe us out…the only survivor was Jackie…"

"Jackie? Jackie was with you all?" June looked at Toph with knowing eyes. Both women knew whoever Jackie was, they were important to Jiao.

"Y-yes…she went on ahead…w-we told her to go back home and give a message to the Chief…b-but she followed after the Fire Nation…th-the damn fool…" Jiao's eyes fell to her hands as she tried to comprehend all of this. "L-Lady Jiao…" The young Sandbender looked up with a soft gasp. "Wh-what're you d-doing…h…here…?" The old Sandbender's eyes rolled up in the back of his head before he breathed his last breath of life. Jiao's mouth hung open in shock. She sat in place, completely dumbfounded and lost.

June stepped forward and knelt down next to the young girl, and closed the old Sandbender's eyes. "You shouldn't have been witness to that…not at your age."

"He died…" June and Toph both looked over to Jiao, whose eyes were staring in a completely lost world unknown to her. "Someone just died…in front of me. I…I've never seen anyone die."

"Jiao…who is Jackie," Toph asked. The young Sandbender's eyes lit up in alarm as she was snapped back to reality.

"Sh-she's my best friend! She's been there for me since the day I was born." Jiao quickly shot up to her feet, "If she went after the Fire Nation, then we've gotta go after her! If nothing else she'll lead us to the bastards that did this!"

"Hey, language," June snapped. "Just because you're stuck with the rest of us fugitives doesn't mean you can curse like us!"

"Screw it, let's go save this Jackie chick," Toph shouted. Jiao nodded then ran back to the sand-sailor. "YO! Everyone back on the boat! We're leaving!"

When the Team gathered on the sailor, Jiao pushed herself as hard as she could go, and sent the sailor flying through the desert.

* * *

After nearly half an hour of traveling through the desert, the Team saw something in the horizon. June and Kegare leaned forward, narrowing their eyes to try to get a clear image of what was ahead. They saw a line composed of Fire Nation soldiers, obviously standing guard.

"Keep pushing forward," Kegare shouted. The Team looked at the former soldier with baffled looks on their faces. "Those soldiers are just a buffer to slow down any pursuers! We're getting closer to whatever Zhao is looking for! Keep pushing forward Jiao!"

"Right!" The young Sandbender took a few steps back, bending her arms a bit and keeping her elbows at her waist. She strode forward quickly and pushed her arms forward as hard as she could, sending a powerful blast of sand into the sailor. The Fire Nation soldiers all dived over out the way as the Team blew by on the sand-sailor. "Do you think they found the Spirit Library?"

"If they didn't, Zhao found something important," Kegare growled.

"What're we going to do when we get to the Spirit Library," June asked. "Those Fire Nation soldiers are sure to come after us."

"Zhao is an expert Firebender right? Well you've dealt with Lu Ten, and Zuko is a pretty good Firebender himself! And I've fought Fire Nation soldiers before, so I'll stay up top! Take the blind one with you."

"Hey, genius, don't you think the Earthbender that has a better chance of Bending sand should stay up top with Little Miss Spunk?"

"I'm going wherever Jackie is," Jiao shouted. "And don't try to talk me out of it!"

"Fine! Me, Zuko, and Jiao will go into the Spirit Library if Jackie is inside! The rest of you try to hold of the Fire Nation and keep the sand-sailor intact!"

"Dead ahead," Ty Lee shouted. The Team snapped their heads forward, seeing a single tower jutting out of the ground. Standing at the base of the tower was another group of Fire Nation soldiers, albeit a smaller batch.

"I don't see Jackie! She must be inside!"

"Focus on not ramming that tower," June ordered. "Try to circle around it! Me, Toph, and Ty Lee will distract the Fire Nation while the rest of you slip in!"

"Got it," Zuko replied with a firm nod.

Jiao curved the sand-sailor to just barely miss a group of Fire Nation soldiers, throwing a wave of sand on most of them. The three girls acting as a distraction jumped off of the sand-sailor, Toph holding onto June's arm. As soon as their feet hit the sand, Ty Lee and June shot towards the enemy while Toph swung her arms about from one side to the next, sending out shimmers of sand to hit the soldiers.

Jiao circled the sand-sailor around the back of the tower, which had no Fire Nation soldiers watching it. The three remaining Team members sprung off the sailor and ran towards the tower. Zuko grabbed a rope that the Fire Nation had left conveniently behind to enter through the top of the tower and started to climb. Jiao was behind the former prince while Kegare made sure they weren't being followed before following his partners in crime.

As soon as Zuko got to the top of the tower, he slid down the inside into a large structure buried underground. Jiao and Kegare followed his example before joining him inside of the large building.

To say the least, the three fugitives were dumbfounded by what they saw. A giant library that seemed to go down endless floors, with hundreds of shelves filled with books and scrolls of untold history and secrets.

"Whoa," Jiao murmured. The benders looked around in shock at just how large the library was. The sound of a sudden crackling stream caused Jiao and Kegare to turn their heads, just as a fireball was coming at them.

"Get down," Zuko shouted as he swatted the fireball away into cinders. The banished prince glared across the bridge at a group of four Fire Nation soldiers and behind them stood Commander Zhao with a smug grin on his face. Zuko scowled at Zhao who approached the three Benders through his soldiers.

"Well, what have we here? A banished prince, a foolish Earthbender, and a lowly little Sandbender. I'm shaking in my boots with fear."

"You'll be shaking in more than that when I'm through with you Zhao," Zuko growled.

"I don't think we should be fighting here," Kegare murmured.

"Where's Jackie you sicko," Jiao shouted.

"Who," Zhao asked as his face twisted a bit with confusion. "We killed all the Sandbenders in that group we encountered outside of the Spirit Library! We left no one alive."

"LIAR!"

Shen looked up and his mouth fell open in shock, "GUYS!"

Everyone, including the Fire Nation soldiers and Zhao looked up just as a giant landed on the bridge between the two sides. A giant bird-like creature rose up slowly and extended its wings out to both sides, throwing the humans further away from each other, and into the various bookshelves and a few pillars.

"I am Wan Shi Tong, he who knows ten thousand things! And you shall not bring your foolish War into this holy sanctuary of knowledge!"

The humans all pulled themselves up and stared up in awe at what they saw. Zhao groaned as his soldiers helped him off the ground, staring intently at the giant beast, "A Spirit…"

"No way," Jiao murmured. "Wan Shi Tong…he's real?"

"All Spirits are real," Kegare replied as he stepped forward. The Spirit snapped its head towards the approaching Earthbender. "Excuse me great Wan Shi Tong, we don't mean to intrude in your library. We were just looking for this girl's friend, a woman named Jackie. We believe she may have followed the Fire Nation to your library."

"No other human has entered this library before the Fire Nation," Shi Tong roared. "I shall destroy all of you if you foolish humans dare to bring your squabbles to my home!"

"We're not, all-knowing Spirit," Zhao spoke as he too stepped towards the Spirit. "I simply come here on behalf of Fire Lord Iroh, in the quest to seek a higher knowledge."

The owl turned his head towards Zhao, "I will not allow any of you to steal my knowledge to further your war! You humans are foolish, stupid creatures! This war, and the countless wars in the past are perfect examples of your idiocy! I'd hoped that this library could help you humans overcome your differences and wars!"

"We would never do that," Kegare said. "I ran away from the war, Zuko is a banished prince from the Fire Nation, and Jiao is from the Sand Tribes. We're all trying to get away from the War. We wouldn't abuse your knowledge like that great Spirit."

Wan Shi Tong stared at Kegare for a moment and stared with black, piercing eyes. The Earthbender stood firm as always as the Spirit silently judged him. Wan Shi Tong then turned to Zhao, "Do I have your word as well that you won't abuse the vast wealth of knowledge here Fire Nation commander?"

"I swear to you on my honor," Zhao replied with a formal bow to the Spirit. The Team glared uneasily at Zhao but Wan Shi Tong nodded and looked between the humans.

"Very well. You all are allowed access to my library as long as you don't use the knowledge for your War." The humans nodded to the Spirit before exchanging uneasy glances towards the opposing side.

The Team was the first to turn around and start to explore the Spirit Library. Kegare turned to Zuko and Jiao as he led the trio, "Okay, so we've just gotta find Jackie and get out of here. I doubt Zhao is here for his own curiosity, so he'll get caught by Wan Shi Tong anyway."

"But we could also take this opportunity to learn about the Fire Nation too," Jiao pointed out.

"Do you wanna find your friend or not," Kegare snapped. The Sandbender giggled nervously as she rubbed the back of her neck.

* * *

The Team spent several minutes exploring the library, trying to find Jiao's friend, but to no avail. Zuko growled as he crossed his arms angrily, "This is ridiculous! How big can this library be?"

"With as much knowledge as Wan Shi Tong knows, it could be as big as any city."

"You seem to know a lot about the Spirits Kegare," Jiao pointed out. The Earthbender nodded as he turned his head to the right.

"My father was a very strong believer of the Spirits and their role in this world. It's kind of inherited that I at least know a fair bit about them." Kegare turned his head to Jiao, "What does your friend look like? What're we expecting exactly?"

"A kangaroo-camel," Jiao replied evenly. Zuko and Kegare both twitched visibly with disbelief. The Sandbender looked at the two older boys with a curious stare, "What's wrong?" The Earthbender and Firebender looked to each other to ensure that they both heard the same thing before snapping their heads back to Jiao.

"We're looking…for your pet," Zuko questioned.

"Hey! Jackie is way more than just a pet," Jiao snapped. "She's been my best friend since forever! My mom took her in when she was just a baby, and she's been apart of the family ever since!"

"You do realize we're risking ALL of our lives right," Kegare questioned. Jiao stamped her foot on the ground and fumed at the older boy.

"Guys, quiet," Zuko snapped. The two turned their heads as Zuko stared cautiously to the side. Kegare and Jiao both walked over to Zuko and stared down the hall, seeing two Fire Nation soldiers posted outside of a room. "Zhao's in there no doubt…"

"Right," Kegare agreed. "But we can't do anything about it. If we fight inside of this library, Wan Shi Tong is going to flip out and attack us."

"But can we just let Zhao get away with whatever information he's going to use," Jiao pondered softly.

Before either boy could answer, the sound of a struggle came from inside of the room. The two soldiers turned their heads towards the entrance in confusion before the door came crashing open, knocking the two men down. Zuko and Kegare yelped in fright while Jiao cried out happily.

"JACKIE!" A creature sprinted fast on two legs, snorting loudly before stopping in front of the three humans. Jiao laughed happily and hugged her friend, "How'd you sneak in here Jackie?" The kangaroo-camel shook its head. Jiao and the other two boys noted something in the animal's mouth. "What's that…?"

"GET THEM!" The Team and Jackie turned their heads as Zhao came barreling out of the room.

"Worry about it later," Kegare shouted. Jackie picked up Jiao in her arms and grunted noisily towards Zuko to get on her back. Kegare quickly raised a wall of earth to block the Firebenders' attacks. "Go now! Get out of here!"

Zuko nodded and jumped on Jackie's furry back, between two of her humps. Jackie then started hopping quickly before breaking out in a full sprint. Kegare used his Earthbending some more to bring down the hallway to block Zhao and his men from following before turning around and sprinting to try to catch up with his friends.

The Fire Nation soldiers tried to see if they could get past the blockade, but to no avail. Zhao glared at the wall between him and his enemies before turning back to the room that held vital information on the Fire Nation. "No one else will learn of the Fire Nation's secrets…" Zhao swung his arm towards the door, setting the room ablaze before heading through an alternate route to escape the library.

* * *

Zuko held onto Jackie's neck for dear life, unsure of what to make of riding on the hopping animal. Jiao however didn't seem to be affected at all as she reached up to Jackie's mouth and took the strange scroll from her mouth. The scroll had the Fire Nation seal on the front, rousing more questions in Jiao's mind.

Within a few short minutes, Jackie got Zuko and Jiao to the entrance where the rope dangled in front of them. Zuko got off and Jackie let Jiao down, "We gotta move!"

"What about Kegare," Jiao asked. Zuko growled in frustration before something caught his eye, causing his face to pale considerably. Jiao and Jackie turned around and squeaked with shock as Wan Shi Tong stood before them.

"Leaving so soon? Did you all get enough knowledge from my library?"

"Y-yeah, we learned plenty," Jiao replied nervously. "Don't worry about us! We found my friend Jackie, see?"

The owl nodded, "Indeed. Well, if you ever seek more knowledge, you and your friends can come back anytime." The owl cried out in pain as it was struck in the back by a barrage of fire. The Spirit fell to the ground, it's back smoking as four Fire Nation soldiers stood in a Firebender stance. Zhao walked around the corner and sneered at Zuko and Jiao.

"Now, I don't think you all want that nasty old scroll. Give it to me."

"Not a chance," Jiao snapped. "Jackie took this scroll for a reason! And the fact you want it is more than enough reason to keep it away from you!"

Zhao huffed with an amused smirk at Jiao. The commander turned his attention to Zuko as his eyes glinted with a little more malicious look. "Zuko…burn the scroll, and I'll arrange for you to come back to the Fire Nation." Zuko gasped with shock, causing Jiao to snap her head around. Zhao grinned and stepped forward, "I'll talk to Fire Lord Iroh personally, and arrange for you to be allowed to return home as a hero. You'll once again be a prince as the Fire Lord's nephew."

"Like hell," Zuko shouted as he flipped over Jiao and sent a fireball from his foot towards Zhao. The commander scowled before swatting the fireball away. As the cinders faded, Zhao growled.

"You're going to regret denying my offer!"

A powerful gust of wind blew Zhao's men back off of their feet while it pushed the commander himself backwards. Zhao looked up as Wan Shi Tong rose up off the ground, slowly morphing into a more terrifying shape.

"You…foolish…ignorant…HUMANS!" Wan Shi Tong threw his head back, releasing a piercing shriek that caused everyone to cover their ears, unable to move or hear. "I will destroy you mortals and then take my knowledge back to the Spirit World with me!"

Zhao growled before he unleashed a stream of fire upon the Spirit. Shi Tong cried out as his right side was being hit with fire. The other four soldiers got off of the floor and joined their commander in the barrage. Wan Shi Tong turned to the Firebenders and covered his face with both wings.

The Spirit then launched its head through the fire and grabbed the first soldier in its beak. The soldier cried out in fear as his comrades watched in horror as Wan Shi Tong shook his head about before tossing the soldier over the bridge and into what seemed to be an endless abyss of knowledge. Wan Shi Tong then turned to the Team and moved to swing his left wing. Zuko quickly wrapped his arms around Jiao to shield her from the blast of wind.

Wan Shi Tong cried out as he was thrown off balance by the bridge being broken off of its foundation. The Spirit glared past the Team and saw Kegare sprinting towards them. The Earthbender sprung into the air as Wan Shi Tong pulled his wing back again to strike. Kegare landed first and slammed his heel into the ground, sending a seismic crack through the ground, causing the bridge to collapse and fall out from beneath the Spirit. Wan Shi Tong screamed as he fell down within his own library with rubble falling with him.

"Go now," Kegare shouted.

Jiao nodded and climbed up the rope first with the scroll tucked in her belt. The library shook as Wan Shi Tong came crashing up through the floor, almost taking Zuko out in the process. Jiao screamed in fear as she clutched to the rope which slithered with the sudden force from the Spirit.

Zuko started shooting fireballs at the Spirit to keep it away. Wan Shi Tong circled around before coming back around and landing on the central platform where Zuko, Kegare, and Jackie stood. When the Spirit landed, it threw the three off balance and onto their rear ends. Wan Shi Tong reared his head back and shrieked once again, causing the Team to cringe with pain.

Once again, the Spirit was hit with a barrage of fire. Wan Shi Tong stumbled back, screaming in pain and frustration. The Fire Nation soldiers leapt across the gap to the central platform before attacking the Spirit relentlessly with a series of fiery strikes.

Zhao watched as his men kept the Spirit on the defensive. The commander turned around and placed his hand on the nearest scroll before setting it ablaze. The old pieces of paper and wood spread fire like a forest of dead leaves. Zhao grabbed a scroll, unrolled it and set the end on fire before tossing it to the lower levels. The fire quickly spread through all the levels of the library, setting countless levels on fire.

Wan Shi Tong saw what Zhao had done to his library and could only watch in horror. Even the Team, who were running away from the angered Spirit, were mortified by Zhao's action.

Shi Tong screamed in fury before lunging forward, grabbing another Fire Nation soldier in his beak before throwing him into the nearest fire. The other two soldiers stepped away in fear before one tried to attack. Wan Shi Tong quickly smacked the soldier with his wing, sending the soldier flying into another fire. The last soldier stammered nervously as the Spirit approached him. Wan Shi Tong did nothing as the soldier fell off of the platform and plummeted into the endless, fiery darkness.

"You foolish, ungrateful mortals! We Spirits have done so much for you! And this is how you repay us?"

Zhao leapt across the gap and unleashed a two handed, intense wave of fire on the owl. The Spirit groaned as he was pushed back before lunging his head forward. Zhao flipped to the side, but managed to slip a well place fireball from his foot down the throat of the Spirit. Wan Shi Tong's eyes widened as he cried out in pain and threw his head back. Smoke and fire shot out of his mouth as the Spirit stumbled around frantically.

Kegare and Zuko watched in horror before stepping out of the way so as not to be crushed by the Spirit. Wan Shi Tong lowered his head and glared at Zhao before the commander launched a powerful fireball at the Spirit's face. The fireball knocked Wan Shi Tong over the edge of the central platform and sent him plummeting into the depths.

"You," Zuko murmured. The banished prince clenched his fists and growled, "You heartless-,"

"Zuko come on," Kegare shouted. The Earthbender quickly lifted up a circular wall around them and lifted it up to where Zhao couldn't climb or jump over it, trapping them under the entrance, and keeping Zhao out.

Zuko scowled before he climbed up the rope behind Jackie and Jiao before Kegare followed behind him. Jiao climbed out and saw that Toph, June, and Ty Lee were still battling Fire Nation soldiers. The Sandbender quickly climbed over and started to slide down the outside of the tower. Jackie simply sprung out from the top of the tower, and got out far enough to where she could use a couple of Fire Nation soldiers as cushions. Kegare and Zuko followed Jiao's example and slide down the outside of the tower.

"Toph," Kegare shouted. "I need your help!"

"Oh you're _SO_ gonna owe me," Toph venomously whispered to herself before heading towards the sound of Kegare's voice. "What's up Man-Boy?"

"We've gotta destroy the entrance to this library," Kegare said. "We can trap Zhao inside of it."

"DONE!" Toph immediately slammed her head into the tower, causing cracks to snake out from the point of impact and the whole tower itself to shake.

Kegare slammed his palms into the tower, causing it to crumble and shake even more while Toph joined in and started beating the tower with her fists. The tower eventually started to shake and collapse in on itself.

June lashed her whip around a soldier's wrist before pulling him in and kicking the soldier in the face, knocking him unconscious on his back. The bounty hunter turned her head, seeing Jiao was Sandbending the sand-sailor to get ready to leave. June whistled to the Team and headed towards the sand-sailor first, spin-kicking through a Fire Nation soldier to get there.

Ty Lee ducked between two soldiers and did a series of quick, precise jabs to render the two men limp as they fell to the ground before she cartwheeled over them. Zuko launched fireball after fireball into the soldiers, hitting them with such force that they fell on their backs and unconscious before heading after the sand-sailor. Jackie sprung up on her tail and kicked a Fire Nation soldier with her massive feet before punching another one repeatedly in the face.

Jiao got the sand-sailor to pick up slowly in speed as June and Jackie jumped on. The bounty hunter stared at the animal for a moment in confusion. After a few seconds, June pointed a finger at the kangaroo-camel, "Jackie…?" The animal nodded, to which June simply shrugged as Zuko and Ty Lee jumped on the sand-sailor too.

"We're picking up Toph and Kegare," Jiao shouted as she circled the sand-sailor back around.

Kegare knocked down the last bit of the tower with a hard glare at the entrance of the Spirit Library. Toph simply sighed and brushed her hands off with a satisfied grin on her face. Kegare turned his head, seeing the Team coming around on the sand-sailor. He quickly grabbed Toph's hand and ran towards the sailor.

"We're leaving," Kegare quickly explained. He and Toph jumped towards the sailor and were both caught by June and Zuko. The two Earthbenders were pulled up onto the sand-sailor as it shot off into the desert, leaving the remaining Fire Nation soldiers behind.

"Well, let's not do that again," Zuko shouted over the sound of the rushing winds.

"I had fun," Toph replied loudly. "At least Commander-Butthead is trapped underground right?"

"Yeah, but he killed a Spirit before he did," Kegare murmured. Toph, June, and Ty Lee's expressions lit up with shock upon hearing this. The others simply remained silent and stared in their separate directions. Though Zhao was trapped if his men didn't dig him up, they prevented to save a Spirit.

"This isn't unusual for the Fire Nation to attack a Spirit," Zuko finally spoke. "But…to have been there, unable to save Wan Shi Tong…"

"I'm sure you did all you could," June replied, placing a supportive hand on her teammate's shoulder.

"Hey, you guys did more than most," Toph added. "Plus I'm guessing we have Jackie too right?"

"Yeah," Ty Lee cautiously answered as she looked at the new Team member in question. "She's apparently a kangaroo-camel."

"See? Victory for Team Toph!" Most of the Team at least smiled softly at Toph's energetic attempt to pull everyone out of their slump, but the loss of a Spirit to the Fire Nation was too great.

* * *

At the entrance of the Spirit Library, as night fell, the soldiers had dug through the rubble and tossed a rope down the hole. After a few moments, Zhao emerged with a confident smile on his face.

"Sir, are you alright?"

"Yes," Zhao replied. "We're heading back to the Fire Nation. I've got a campaign I'd like to present to the Fire Lord personally…"

"Yes sir." The soldiers scrambled to get the mounts ready while Zhao simply continued to grin.

* * *

**Soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo long since an update lol. Hopefully this didn't seem too rushed (but it was). And to explain the anatomy of a kangaroo-camel, basically it has the body of a kangaroo, but more of the physical appearance/traits of a camel. Make sense? Hopefully so lol. Hope you enjoyed if you read this.**

**I would also like to take this opportunity to state that any similarities that this story may have in the future to the Legend of Korra series is purely coincidental. I swear on my mother's grave I had the complete outline for this story written like last year. So there, that's my disclaimer lol.**


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